Contempt of Court
Table of Contents
·
Contempt of
Court definition
·
Origin of
Contempt of Court
·
History
of Law of Contempt in India
·
Contempts
of Courts Act 1971 notes
·
Essentials
of Contempt of Court
·
Types
of Contempt of Court in India
§ Defences to
Civil Contempt
·
Punishment
for Contempt of Court
·
Contempt Proceedings
·
Contempt
committed outside the court
·
Contempt by a Company
·
Contempt
by the third party to the proceeding
·
Criminal contempt and criminal defamation proceedings
·
Limitation
·
Landmark
Contempt Judgments
·
Famous cases of
contempt
·
Compared
with foreign Jurisdictions
·
Criticism
of the power of contempt of court
·
Conclusion
·
Reference
Contempt of Court
definition
“The term ‘Contempt of
Court’ is a generic term descriptive of conduct in relation to particular
proceedings in a court of law which tends to undermine that system or to
inhibit citizens from availing themselves of it for the settlement of their
disputes.”This definition is
given by Lord Diplock when he was giving the judgment in the
case of Attorney-General v. Times
Newspapers Ltd. [1]
This term Contempt of
Court can be easily understood as when we are disrespectful or disobedience
towards the court of law which means that we wilfully fail to obey the court
order or disrespect the legal authorities. Then the judge has the right to
impose sanctions such as fines or can send the contemnor to jail for a certain
period of time if he is found guilty of Contempt of Court.
This term can also be
understood in terms of the freedom of limits of the judicial proceeding. As we
know that all judges in courts can give judicial proceedings which have a
certain limit in which it has the freedom to make any judicial proceeding and anything
which curtails or stops it in making any judicial proceeding which is of
necessity can amount to contempt of court.
Halsbury, Oswald, and
Black Odgers have also given the definition of Contempt of Court and in
addition to that, they have talked about its misuse and its wrong
interpretation and also its broad prospectus.
In India, the concept
of Contempt of Court is defined in Section 2(a) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 which
has broadly describe it as civil contempt or criminal contempt.
There are two Articles
in the Constitution of India which talk about the Contempt of Court and these
are Article 129 and Article 142(2) .
Article 129
Article 129 says that
the Supreme Court shall be the ‘Court of Record’ and it has all the
powers of such courts including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
Now, we should know
about the meaning of ‘Court of Record’ to understand why
anything commented wrongly against the decision of the courts leads to Contempt
of Court.
Here, is the answer to
this question. The ‘Court of Record’ means a Court having its acts and
proceedings registered for everlasting memory or that memory which has no end
and as evidence or proof. The truth of these records cannot be questioned and
also these records are treated as a higher authority. And anything stated
against the truth of these records comprised Contempt of Court.
Article 142(2)
This article also
talks about Contempt of Court. This Article says that when any law is made by
the Parliament on the provisions mentioned in clause 1 of this Article, the
Supreme Court has all the power to make an order for securing any person’s
attendance, production of any documents or has the power to give punishment to
anyone for its contempt.
This also does not
mean that the Supreme Court can do anything against the right of personal
liberty if it has the power to punish for Contempt of Court. We know that it is
the guardian of all the rights that we get from the Indian Constitution so it
has to safeguard these rights and cannot violate these rights itself.
Origin of Contempt of
Court
The legal system that
we see today is the summit of the long journey which has started from the
divine rule that was in proclamation to the natural law and more further to the
positive law that we see today. Contempt of Court is a matter which regards
that justice should be administered fairly and it also punishes anyone who aims
to hurt the dignity or authority of the judicial tribunals. This law has its
origin from the medieval times when the royal powers of the monarch were
transferred to the court and at this time the monarch was believed to be
appointed by God and everyone was accountable to him. This power of
accountability clearly depicts the same accountability the Supreme Court
possesses nowadays under Article 129 and 142 of the Indian constitution against
its contempt. In the English medieval ages the Judiciary was an important tool
of the Monarch. At that time these judges and legislatures were representatives
of the divine rule monarchy and these judges and legislatures played an
important role in legitimizing the functions of these monarchs. The king was
the superior head of justice and this power he has given to the judicial system
and if anyone or the king himself disrespect or question the courts it became a
challenge to the superiority of the king and as well as to his wisdom. So, this
can be seen as although the source of the law has transformed in the society
the unquestionability quality that a king enjoyed was upheld by the monarchy.
There is a case of contempt against J. Almon in the year 1765; a statement was
made by the Irish judge Sir Eardley Wilmot in regard to this contempt attacks
on the judges. In this case, Almon has published a pamphlet libelling the
decision of the bench of kings and the judgment given by the judge had given
rise to many questions of several aspects of the judiciary which had not been
questioned yet. This matter gives a great push in the establishment of the
contempt of court. This judgement also recognised that the unbiasedness is also
one of the features of the judiciary in making the decision which makes this
institution different from its peer institutions.
History of Law of
Contempt in India
Sanyal Committee
report deals with the historical aspect of the Law of Contempt in India. This
committee has been responsible for starting the amendment process in this law.
The law of contempt similar to many other laws has been brought from the
English laws and statutes but this law has not been absolutely taken from the
English laws it has other origins too. How has the indigenous development of
contempt law taken place? It can be understood by the age-old system which our
country was having to protect court or assemblies (sabhas) in the past.
We know about the philosopher Kautilya, in his book Arthashastra has written
about the governance at that time. He has written that “Any person who exposes
the king or insults his council or make any type of bad attempt on the kings
then the tongue of that person should be cut off.” Adding to this statement, he
also said that “When a judge threatens, bully or make silence to any of the
disputants in the court then he should be punished.”
Until the year 1952,
there were no statutory provisions for the contempt of court in India but after
the enactment of Contempt of Court Act, 1952 statutory
provisions for contempt of court in India has established. This Act extends to
the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. This Act gives power to the High
Court to punish contempt of the subordinate court. This Act has repealed the
existing law from the Contempt of Court Act, 1926 that was
prevailing in the state of Rajasthan and the state of Saurashtra. Although this
Act was extended to the whole of Bangladesh. It can be surprising knowing that
although these Acts have been introduced earlier then also these Acts do not
give the definition of the term ‘Contempt’ and also there was still a lot of
ambiguity present around the law of contempt. This law has to be dealt with in
light of two fundamental rights given by our Indian Constitution and these
rights are (i) freedom of speech and expression and (ii) right to personal
liberty.
There was a bill
introduced in the Lok Sabha to make any changes or to make the existing law
relating to contempt more strong. This law was introduced by Shri B B Das Gupta
on 1st of April 1960. The government after examining the bill discern the need
for reform in the existing Act. So, they made a special committee to look into
the matter or inspect the existing Act. This committee was set up in 1961,
under the chairmanship of H.N. Sanyal which gives its report on 28th February,
1963. The report of this committee took the form of Contempt of Court Act,
1971. The procedure and application of enactment something that was done
earlier by the Contempt of Court Act of 1926 and 1952 was given several changes
through the Contempt of Court Act, 1971. This Act segregates the ‘Contempt of
Court’ into criminal and civil contempt with their definition respectively. This
thing was not mentioned in the earlier existing courts. Now, let us know
something about the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.
Contempts of Courts
Act 1971 notes
This Act extended to
the whole of India and it has also provided that this Act shall not apply to
the state of Jammu and Kashmir except in certain conditions in which the
provision of the Act is connected to the Contempt of Supreme Court. Another
thing is that this Act provides the definition of Contempt of Court which has
not been given by the earlier Act of Contempt of Court. This Act under Section
2(a) defines Contempt of Court as ‘Civil Contempt’ and ‘Criminal
Contempt’. There is a case of Noorali
Babul Thanewala v. K.M.M. Shetty [2] in which an
undertaking was given to a Court in civil proceedings by a person, on the faith
that undertaking was correct the Court sanctions a course of action in regard to
that undertaking but the undertaking seems to be incorrect. Hence, this was
considered as misconduct and amount to Contempt of Court. In this act there are
several provisions given that it does not amount to Contempt of Court.
Although, these provisions have to be discussed later in this article some of
them you should know at this point in time. These are: (i) innocent publication
of a matter or its distribution does not amount to Contempt of Court. (ii)
publishing of fair and accurate reports of the Judicial proceedings does not
amount to Contempt of Court. (iii) fair criticism on judicial acts does not
amount to Contempt of Court. Next, in this Act, the High Court has been given
the power to make decisions on the matter which is outside its jurisdiction.
Punishment for Contempt of Court has been given in this Act and also what type
of misconduct not amount to Contempt of Court has been given, how we can deal
with that contempt has also been given. The Judge, Magistrate or any other
person who is acting judicially can also be contempt for their
actions. Also, this Act gives certain limitations where this Act does not
apply. This Act does not apply to the Courts of Nyaya Panchayat and
other Courts of the village. This Act repealed the old existing Act of Contempt
of Court which came into force in 1952.
Essentials of Contempt
of Court
If a person named
Akash has to prove that the other person named Sita is guilty of committing an
act which is an offence in a court of law. Then he has to show the court that the
offence which Sita has done is fulfilling the essential required to commit that
act or not. If the essentials of that will be fulfilled then he will be liable
for that act. Similarly, every offence has certain exceptions that has to be
fulfilled for making the person liable for doing that act. Contempt of Court
also has certain essentials and these are as follows:
1. Disobedience to any type of court proceedings,
its orders, judgment, decree, etc should be done ‘willfully’ in
case of Civil Contempt.
2. In Criminal Contempt ‘publication’ is
the most important thing and this publication can be either spoken or written,
or by words, or by signs, or by visible representation.
3. The court should make a ‘valid order’ and
this order should be in ‘knowledge’ of the respondent.
4.
The action of
contemnor should be deliberate and also it should be clearly disregard of the
court’s order.
These essentials
should be fulfilled while making someone accused of Contempt of Court.
Types of Contempt of
Court in India
Depending on the
nature of the case in India, Contempt of Court is of two types.
1. Civil Contempt
2.
Criminal Contempt
Civil Contempt
Section 2(a) of the
Contempt of Court Act, 1971 states Civil Contempt as wilful disobedience to the
order, decree, direction, any judgment or writ of the Court by any person or
willfully breach of undertakings by a person given to a Court. Since
Civil Contempt deprives a party of the benefit for which the order
was made so these are the offences essential of private nature. In
other words, a person who is entitled to get the benefit of the court order,
this wrong is generally done to this person.
There is a case on
the willful disobedience of the court order which a person
should know.
Utpal Kumar Das v. Court of the
Munsiff, Kamrup [3]
This is the case of
non-rendering of assistance, although the court has ordered to render
assistance. Decree executed by the court to deliver immovable property but
because of certain obstruction, the defendant failed to do so. Hence, he was
held liable for constituting disobedience to the orders of the competent Civil
Court.
Another case is on
the breach of an undertaking which leads to Contempt of Court.
U.P. Resi. Emp. Co-op., House B. Society v. New Okhla
Industrial Development Authority [4]
In this case, the
Supreme Court has directed the Noida Authorities to verify and state on the
affidavit details given by persons for allotment of plots. In pursuance to the
same direction by the Supreme Court a person Mr. S filed a false affidavit to
mislead the court. The Registry directed a show-cause notice against him to say
that why an act of contempt should not be taken against him for misleading the
Supreme Court.
Defences to Civil Contempt
A person who is
accused of Civil Contempt of case can take the following defences:
· Lack of Knowledge of the order: A person can not be held liable for Contempt
of Court if he does not know the order given by the court or he claims to be
unaware of the order. There is a duty binding on the successful party by the
courts that the order that has passed should be served to the Individual by the
post or personally or through the certified copy. It can be successfully
pleaded by the contemner that the certified copy of the order was not formally
served to him.
· The disobedience or the breach done should not
be : If someone is pleading
under this defence then he can say that the act done by him was not done
willfully, it was just a mere accident or he/she can say that it is beyond
their control. But this plead can only be successful if it found to be
reasonable otherwise your plead can be discarded.
· The order that has disobeyed should be vague
or ambiguous: If the order passed by
the court is vague or ambiguous or this order is not specific or complete in
itself then a person can get the defence of contempt if he says something
against that order. In R.N. Ramaul
v. State of Himachal Pradesh [5], this defence has been
taken by the respondent. In this case, the Supreme Court has directed the
corporation of the respondent to restore the promotion of the petitioner from a
particular date in the service. But the respondent has not produced the
monetary benefit for the given period and a complaint was filed against him for
Contempt of Court. He pleads for the defence on the given evidence that it has
not mentioned by the court in order to pay the monetary benefit. Finally, he
gets the defence.
· Orders involve more than one reasonable
interpretation: If the contempt of any
order declared by the court and the order seems to be given more than one
reasonable and rational interpretation and the respondent adopts one of those
interpretations and works in accordance with that then he will not be liable
for Contempt of Court.
· Command of the order is impossible: If
compliance of the order is impossible or it can not be done easily then it
would be taken as a defence in the case of Contempt of Court. However, one
should differentiate the case of impossibility with the case of mere
difficulties. Because this defence can be given only in the case of the
impossibility of doing an order.
Criminal Contempt
According to Section
2(c) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971, Criminal Contempt is Defined as (i)
the publication of any matter by words, spoken or written, or by gesture, or by
signs, or by visible representation or (ii) doing of any act which includes:
1. a) Scandalize or tends to scandalise, or
lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court, or
2. b) Biasness, interferes or tends to interfere
with the due course of any type of Judicial proceedings, or
3.
c) obstructs or tends
to obstruct, interfere or tend to interfere with the administration of justice
in any manner.
Case on Scandalizing
the Court:
Jaswant Singh v. Virender Singh [6]
In this case an
advocate caste derogatory and scandalous attack on the judge of the High Court.
An application was filed an election petitioner in the High Court, who was an
advocate. He wanted to seek to stay for further arguments in an election
petition and also the transfer of election petitions. These things cause an
attack on the judicial proceeding of the High Court and had the tendency to
scandalize the Court. It was held in this case that it was an attempt to
intimidate the judge of the High Court and cause an interface in the conduct of
a fair trial.
Punishment for
Contempt of Court
Section 12 of the Contempt of Court Act,
1971 deals with the punishment for Contempt of Court. High Court and the
Supreme Court have been given the power to punish someone for the Contempt of
Court. Section 12(1) of this Act states that a person who alleged with the
Contempt of Court can be punished with simple imprisonment and this
imprisonment can extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two
thousand rupees or can be of both type punishment. However, an accused may be
discharged or the punishment that was awarded to him maybe remitted on the
condition that if he makes an apology and this apology should satisfy the court
then only he can be exempted from the punishment of Contempt of Court.
Explanation of this sentence is that if the accused made an apology in
the bona fide then this apology shall not be rejected on the
ground that it is conditional or qualified.
The court can not
impose a sentence for Contempt of Court in excess of what is prescribed under
the given section of this Act either in respect of itself or of a court
subordinate to it.
Remedies against an order of Punishment
Section
13 has been added in the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 after
amendment in 2006. The new Act may be called The Contempt of Court (Amendment) Act, 2006. This
Section tells that contempt of court cannot be punished under certain circumstances
or certain cases.
Clause (a) of Section
13 of the Contempt of Court (Amendment) Act, 2006 states that no Court under
this Act shall be punished for Contempt of Court unless it is satisfied that
the Contempt is of such a nature that it substantially interferes or tend to
substantially interfere with the due course of Justice.
Clause (b) of Section
13 of this Act states that the court may give the defence on the justification
of truth if it finds that the act done in the public interest and the request
for invoking that defence is bona fide.
Contempt Proceedings
Two Sections of the
Contempt of Court Act, 1971 deals with the procedure of Contempt proceeding.
One talks about the proceeding in the face of the court of records and other
talks about the proceedings other than the court of records.
Section 14 of the Contempt of Court deals
with the procedure of contempt proceeding in the face of the court of record
whereas Section 15 of this Act deals with the
procedure of the contempt proceeding outside the court of records.
These courts of record
have got the power to punish for its contempt inherently. Therefore, these
courts of record can deal with the matter of content by making their own
procedure. While exercising the contempt jurisdiction by the courts of
record the only case to be observed is that the procedure adopted must be fair
and reasonable in which the alleged contemnor should be given full opportunity
to defend himself. If the specific charge against the person who is punished
for the contempt is distinctly stated and he is given a reasonable opportunity
to answer and to defend himself against the charge then only he will be liable
for contempt of court and the court proceeding runs against him. Where the
person charged with contempt under this section applies whether orally or in
writing to have the charge against him, tried by some judge other than the
judge or judges in whose presence or hearing the contempt is alleged to have
been committed and the court is of the opinion that it is necessary in the
interest of justice that the application should be allowed, it shall cause the
matter to be transferred before such judge as the Chief Justice may think fit
and proper under the circumstances of the case or placed before the Chief
Justice with the statement of facts of the case.
Contempt committed
outside the court
Criminal Contempt
rather than Civil Contempt committed outside the Court. Section 15(1) of the Contempt of
Court Act, 1971 deals with the notice of Criminal Contempt by Court of Record
such as the Supreme Court and the High Court. Following manners can be taken by
the Supreme Court and the High Court for cognizance of the Criminal Contempt:
1. On the motion of court of records.
2. On the motion of the Advocate General of the
Supreme Court and the High Court.
3. If any person proceeds the motion with the
consent of the Advocate General in writing.
4.
If the law officer who
is related to the High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi as the Central
Government notify proceeds the motion. Then it can be considered as contempt
committed outside the court.
Section 15(2) of this Act states that in
the criminal contempt of the subordinate court, the high court may take certain
actions in the manner given in this Act.
Contempt by a Company
In case any person is
found guilty of contempt of court for any undertaking given to a court while he
is a member of the company. Then the person who at that time was in charge of
that company will be responsible for the conduct of the business of that
company and shall be deemed to be guilty of the contempt. The punishment may be
enforced by the detention in the civil prison of such person with the leave of
the court
However, that person
can be free from liability if such person proves that the contempt was
committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all possible means to
prevent its commission.
Liability of officer of the company
If the contempt of
court has been committed by a company and it is provided that the contempt has
been committed with the consent of, or is attributable to any neglect on the
part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officers of the company,
then such persons shall also be deemed to be guilty of the contempt and the
punishment will be enforced against them by the detention in civil prison of
such director, manager, secretary or other officer with the leave of the court.
Contempt by the third
party to the proceeding
If a third party has a
part to play in the offence then the third party to the offence may be guilty
of contempt of court and proceeding can initiate against him. In LED Builders Pty Ltd v Eagles Homes Pty Ltd [7]
Lindgren J stated:
“It is not necessary
to show that a person who has breached the order of the court can be liable for
contempt of court but the only necessary thing to confirm his liability for
contempt is to show that the person knew of the order which was breached.”
In another case
of M/S. Gatraj Jain & Sons v.
Janakiraman [8] it has been stated about the third party to
the proceeding that if a third party to the contempt petition found to be
wilfully disobeying the court order then he cannot prevent the court from
restoring the status quo.
Criminal contempt and
criminal defamation proceedings
A question has been
asked by the person that can an action for criminal contempt and criminal
defamation initiated simultaneously. This can be understood by knowing the
concept of Criminal contempt and criminal defamation. Earlier, in this article,
we have talked about Criminal Contempt. But for an overview, we should know
what does a criminal contempt mean. According to Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971,
criminal contempt is defined as (i) the publication of any matter by words,
spoken or written, or by gestures, or by signs, or by visible representation or
(ii) doing of any act which includes:
1. a) Scandalize or tends to scandalise, or
lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court, or
2. b) Biasness, interferes or tends to interfere
with the due course of any type of Judicial proceedings, or
3.
c) obstructs or tends
to obstruct, interfere or tend to interfere with the administration of justice
in any manner.
Now, we will know the
concept of criminal defamation.
The definition of
criminal defamation has been given under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code,
1860. It states about defamation that “Whoever, by words either spoken or
intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or
publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or
having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such
person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter expected, to defame that
person.”
There are certain
exceptions of criminal defamation and these are:
1. If the publication of anything is in truth and
for public good then it cannot be treated as defamation.
2. When a person touches any public questions
then for that he cannot be liable.
3.
If the publication is
of the reports of the proceedings of the court.
As the right to
reputation is an important facet of the right to life and personal liberty
guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Indian Constitution, hence, the aim of the criminal defamation is to prevent a
person from maligning harming the reputation of others by using absurd or
malign words with malafide intentions.
In the case of Dr. Subramanian Swamy vs. Union of India (UOI), Ministry
of Law and Ors. [9] the constitutional validity of the
criminal defamation was upheld.
Limitation
Section 20 of the Contempt of Court Act,
1971 deals with the limitation for the action of Contempt. It states that no
court shall initiate any proceedings of contempt in two conditions:
1. Either the proceedings are on his own motion,
or,
2.
After the period of
one year from the date on which the contempt is alleged to have been committed.
Landmark Contempt
Judgments
· Supreme Court Bar Association vs
Union Of India & Anr [10]
In this case, the
Judge held that procedural aspect for Contempt of Court may still be prescribed
by the Parliament so that it could be applicable in the Supreme Court and the
High Court. This means that Section 12(1) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971
which prescribed a maximum fine of Rs. 5000 and imprisonment for a term of six
months shall be applicable in this case.
· Zahira Habibullah Sheikh &
Anr vs State Of Gujarat & Ors[11]
It was held in this
case that the punishment that is given for contempt in the Contempt of Court
Act, 1971 shall only be applicable to the High Court but for Supreme Court, it
acts as a guide. The judgment that was given was not accompanied by
rationality, this was worrisome because the Supreme Court has been given great
powers that the drafters of the Indian Constitution has also not given.
· Sudhakar Prasad vs. Govt. of
A.P. and Ors.[12]
This case is also
similar to the Supreme Court Bar Association Case. In this case also once again
the Supreme Court declared that the powers to punish for contempt are inherent
in nature and the provision of the Constitution only recognised the said pre-existing
situation.
The provision of the
Contempt of Court cannot be used to limit the exercise of jurisdiction given in
Article 129 and Article 215 of the Constitution.
Famous cases of
contempt
· P.N. Duda vs V. P. Shiv Shankar
& Others[13]
In this case, the
Supreme Court observed that the judges cannot use the contempt jurisdiction for
upholding their own dignity. Our country is the free marketplace of ideas and
no one could be restricted to criticise the judicial system unless this
criticism hampers the ‘administration of justice’.
· R. Rajagopal vs State Of T.N[14]
This case is also
known as the Auto Shankar case; in this case, Justice Jeevan Reddy invoked the
very famous doctrine of John Sullivan. This doctrine states that public must be
open to strict comments and accusations as long as made with bonafide
diligence, even if it is untrue.
· In Re: Arundhati Roy [15]
In this case, the
Supreme Court observed that the fair criticism on the conduct of a Judge or the
institution of Judiciary and its function may not amount to contempt if it is
made in good faith and in the public interest.
· Indirect Tax practitioners’
Association v. R.K. Jain[16]
In this case, the
Supreme court observed that the defence of truth can be permitted to the person
accused of contempt if the two conditions are satisfied. These are: (i) if it
is in the interest of public and (ii) the request for invoking the said defence
is bonafide. These are given in Section 13 of the Contempt of Court Act,
1971.
· Justice Karnan’s case
He was the first
sitting High Court Judge to be jailed for six months on the accusation of
Contempt of Court. In February 2017, contempt of court proceeding was initiated
against him after he accused twenty Judges of the Higher Judiciary of
Corruption. He wrote a letter to PM Modi against this but he did not provide
any evidence against them.
Compared with foreign
Jurisdictions
United Kingdom
There was no
conviction for the offence of Scandalizing the Court from the common law in
England since 1993. The origin of contempt by scandalizing the court can be
traced back to 1765. The case of King v. Almon,[17]
in which the Almon faced judicial trial against him for libel against a judge.
Justice Wilmort, in this case, gives special punishment to Almon for libel and
from here the scandalizing a court became a form of Contempt of Court. Around a
hundred years later the above case, Lord Morris in the case McLeod v. St.Aubin[18] made a very
wonderful statement that for contempt by scandalizing has become outdated and
in place of that the court should leave on the public opinion whether the
attacks or contempt that are derogatory or scandalous to the Judiciary or not.
However, within a year, his words about the contempt by scandalizing being old
or outdated and this has proved false in another case of Queen v. Grey[19]. In this case, it has
been conceded by the court that the judiciary is still open to criticism by the
media, but it should qualify the statement “ reasonable arguments or
expostulation” must be offered to treat a statement as a contempt.
United States of America
This country has
considered the offence of contempt by scandalizing to be too extreme. Every
criticism that we do to the judiciary undermines the authority of the Court.
Right to freely comment or criticise the action of a public institution is of
primary importance to the public and also for the American idea of Democracy.
For abolishing the offence of contempt by scandalizing, the UK consultation
paper relied on the landmark decision of the US Supreme Court decision in
case Bridges v. California[20].
This offence has been considered unconstitutional in the United States of
America.
Criticism of the power
of contempt of court
The discretion that a
judge has in determining the contempt and its punishment has been a debatable
issue in the eyes of some scholars because the contempt power has given too
much authority to the Judges. A professor from Virginia University has about
this contempt power that the role of victim, judge, and prosecutor are
dangerously mixed.
Much of the criticism
goes around the due process or lack of restraint in the punishment for contempt
of court. Critics have argued that the judge in the Criminal contempt may be
too harsh while giving the Judgment. For example, in 1994, the Virginia Court
has fined Mine Workers of America $52 million in connection in violence that
occurred in 1989. Similarly, sometimes the person who refused to provide the
information to the court has been to jail for one year or for many years under
the charge of contempt. There is some loophole in this context and it should be
fulfilled.
Apart from criticism
there are also some good things about contempt. Contempt of Court Act, 1971 is
one of the most powerful statutes in the country. This statute gives the
Constitutional Court the wide power to restrict an individual’s fundamental
rights to personal liberty (that he got under Article 21 of the Indian
Constitution) for ‘scandalizing the court’ or willfully disobeying the court’s
order, judgment, decree, and direction, etc.
Conclusion
The existing role
relating to ex facie contempt of lower courts is unsatisfactory and misleading
in India. It appears that evidently, the difficulties in this regard are the
after product of overlap of contempt powers under the Indian Penal Code,
Contempt of Courts Act and contempt powers of the Supreme Court and High Court
under the Indian constitution. The scenario has emerged as more complicated by
way of the inconsistent interpretations followed through the Supreme Court and
High Court regarding diverse provisions under the Indian Penal Code dealing
with interference with the administration of justice and exclusion clause
contained in the Contempt of Courts Act. Not only the higher court should be
given the power to deal with contempt but also the lower court should be given
this power. Contempt of Court if seen from the perspective of the judges,
higher judicial officials seems good but if it comes to the perspective of
common people it turns towards its bad effect.
Reference
· Attorney-General v. Times Newspapers
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· Noorali Babul Thanewala v. K.M.M. Shetty, AIR
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· Utpal Kumar Das v. Court of the Munsiff,
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· R.N. Ramaul v. State of Himachal
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Gujarat & Ors, (2004) 4 SCC 158
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Ors., (2001) 1 SCC 516
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(SCW) 1210
· Indirect Tax practitioners’ Association v.
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· King v. Almon, 243 K.B. 1765
· McLeod v. St.Aubin, [1899] A.C. 549 (
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student of faculty of law, Aligarh Muslim University, Amanat Raza, has written this article. In this article, he discusses the concept of Contempt of Court, its definition, its importance and its criticism.
