Contempt of civil court Power point presentation

Contempt of civil court

1. Law of Contempt
-
Perspective & Ramifications

2. A LawNEEDED,notWanted
OnlyMechanism toensurecompliance,if
Statuteprescribesnoothermethod;
EffectiveforensuringIndependence&
Insulationfromexternalinfluences;
Nevermeanttogagjustifiedexpression/Fair
criticism;

3. Current Governing Statutes
1.ContemptofCourtAct,1971
-ForCourtsofRecord;
2.SpecifiedProvisionsinCh.XXVIof
Cr.P.C
-ForSubordinateCourts;

4. Contempt of Court Act, 1971
"ContemptofCourt"means
civilcontemptor
criminal
contempt;

5. "Criminal Contempt"
Publication ( by words/signs -visible
representations) of any matter or doing of
any actwhich-
a.Scandalizes or lowers/ tends to
scandalize/ lower Authorityof any
Court;
b.Prejudices / interferesor tends to
prejudice / interfere with, the due
course of any Judicial proceeding;

6. "Criminal Contempt"
c-d.Interferes /
Obstructsor tends to
obstruct/interfere
with
Administration of
Justicein any
manner;

7. Exceptions-I
Innocent publication and
distributionofmaterial(S.3):-
Ifproceedingnotpendingor,
Personpublishing/distributingthe
matternotawareof-
PendancyofProceeding;
Existenceofcontemptuouscontentinthe
material;

8. Exceptions-II
Publicationofinformationofproceedingin
ChambersorCameraexceptwhen:-
Contrarytolaw;
ExpresslyprohibitedbyCourt;
CourtsitsinCameraforreasonsofPublicOrder/
SecurityofState;
Informationrelatingtoasecretprocessor
discoveryitselfanissueintheproceeding(S.
7);

9. Exceptions-III
FairreportofJudicialproceeding(S.4);
FaircriticismofJudicialact(S.5);
ComplaintingoodfaithagainstP.O.of
SubordinateCourt(S.6);

10. "Civil Contempt"
1.Wilful disobedienceof:-
i.Judgement,
ii.Decree,
iii.Direction,
iv.Order,
v.Writ ,
vi.Other process of Court;
2.Wilfulbreachofundertaking
given;

11. PUNISHMENT (S. 12)
S.I.for6Months,&/orFineuptoRs.
2,000/-;
ProvisiontodischargeContemner,or
Remitpunishment-OnApologybeingmade
totheCourt’ssatisfaction;
Apologynottoberejectedmerely
becauseitisqualified/conditional,
-ifmadebona-fide.

12. Peril of a
Bureaucrat –
J.Vasudevan’s case

13. The Back ground
26.11.79 Dasegowda absorbed in BMC
19.03.81 Single Bench quashes Order
25.11.82 D. B. Rejects Appeal of
State Government
19.03.84 Review Petition Rejected
12.11.90 SLP Rejected by S.C.
7.12.90 Dasegowda Promoted as Addl.
C.E.

14. More Facts
25.03.91 DasegowdaRepatriatedtoPWD
26.3.1991Amended Rules Upheld by High Court
16.07.91 SATDismissedDasegowda’sPetition
consequenttohisRetirement
19.02.93 SCUpholdsvalidityofAmended
Rules;HoldsDasegowda’s
AbsorptionLegal;
DhananjayNotPartytothisCase;

15. More Facts (Contd.)
March,93InterlocutoryapplicationfiledinSCby
anapprehensiveDhananjay;
26.7.93SCallowsapplication&directs
implementationoforderdated19.3.84,if
needed,bycreatingsupernumerarypost;
2.9.94 BMCcreatespostbyaresolution;
31.3.94HighCourtdecidedseriesofwritsfiledby
Dhananjay;

16. The Crisis Stage
1994 DhananjayfilesContemptCase;
(LastPart)afterGovernmentdoesnotacton
BMCresolutionof4.4.94;
27.04.95AffidavitfiledbyJ.Vasudevan,
PrincipalSecretary,Housing&
UrbanDevelopment;
10.5.95 HisLawyer seeks compliance time;
Allowed till vacation;

17. The Undoing
10.7.95 Government’s order effectively
rejecting promotion claim;
25.8.95 Vasudevan held guilty of
Contempt;Mercy petitions rejected;
10.9.95 Surrenders;
14.9.95 Review Petn. of Karnataka Govt. rejected;
12.10.95 Out of Jail;

18. NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS ( Contd).
Punishment–PurediscretionofCourt;
Initiationofproceedings-Cannotbecompelledor
demandedasofRight;
Maybeinitiated:-
i) Suo -motto,
ii) On Reference by Advocate General / other
authorised person, or,
iii) On Reference by Subordinate Court;
(O. P. Jaiswal Vs. D.K. Mittal, AIR 2000 SC 1137)

19. NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS
►Quasicriminalincharacter;
►ASpecialJurisdiction-InherentforHigh
Courts&SupremeCourt;
►Courtscantakeupsuo–motto;
►PurelybetweenCourt&Contemner–
-NoroleofThirdPartyexceptinforming;

20. DEFENDING A CONTEMPT CASE -The Basics
1.MaintainseparateRegisterofCourtcases;
2.ExclusivePageforeachcasetomonitorstage;
3.SeeCourtrelatedcorrespondencepersonally;
4.Don’tsimplyreturn,callrecordsinstead;

21. DEFENDING In CONTEMPT -The Technique
6.DonotfloutCourtorderevenif
seeminglyerroneousorillegal-Itcanbe
challengedmethodically;
7.PreparationofReply-Ensure
submissionofAffidavitwithintime.
StrictlyadheretoCourt’sTimelimit;
8.Incaseofdoubt/clarification,move
immediately;
9.MaintainDate-wiseComplianceDiary;

22. DEFENDING In CONTEMPT -The Efforts
11.EveryCourtdecisiontobecompliedor
challenged;
12.FilingofAffidavit-Personalpresencemust,if
required;
13.LanguageinAffidavit-submissive&
respectful;
14.VettingbyanExpert-Engageprivate
Lawyerifneeded; GetGovernment
approval;

23. DEFENDING In CONTEMPT -The Finesse
15.Contemptcase-Nobarin
executingCourtorder;
16.Apology tobe tendered
invariably&unconditionally;
17.Undertakinggiven-Mustbe
fulfilled;