In India where the constitution is sovereign .

The farmers of our constitution has vested the sole

responsibility with the judiciary as the custodian of constitution and to safeguard the rights of
the citizens of the country . People repose great faith in the institutional edifice of the judicial
courts .To maintain this faith in the judiciary it is necessary to protect the courts from such acts
which undermines its supremacy and tries to scandalize it, which has the effect of lowering the
authority of any court in the eyes of the people.

The constitution of India has expressly conferred the power on the Supreme Court to punish for
the contempt of court under Article 129 of the constitution and under Article 215 to the High
Courts. As there is need to differentiate between bona fide remarks and contemptuous remarks .
This extraordinary power must be sparingly exercise only where the public interest demands.1

Apart from the constitutional provisions there are also different statutes to regulate contempt of
court like The Contempt Of Courts Act ,1971, it defines the powers of the courts for punishing
for contempt and regulate their procedures .Not only the advocates but also a judge or
Magistrate or other person acting judicially shall be liable for contempt of his own court or any
other court in the same manner as any other individual is liable.The Supreme Court has the
power to punish for the contempt of itself as well as subordinate court.2

The jurisdiction of the supreme court is independent of the provisions of The Contempt Of
Courts Act ,any move by the legislature to curtail the power of the Supreme Court by amending
the provisions of the act can not deter the Supreme Court as the power of the court under Article
129 and Article 142(2) goes further and enables us to investigate any contempt of this Court.

As the Supreme Court is the guardian of the rule of law and upholds the majesty of law such
inherent power is necessary to protect itself and subordinate judiciary ,so to safeguard the
interest of the public in the authority of the court, if not then the public confidence in the
administration of justice will eroded.

“Although the law of contempt is largely governed by the1971 Act, it is now settled law in India that the 
High Courts and the Supreme Court derive their jurisdiction and   power   from   Articles   215   and   129
of   the Constitution. This situation results in giving scope for “judicial selfdealing”.3

1
Hiralal v. state of U.P.,AIR,747(SC:1954)
2
Delhi Judicial Service Assn. V. State of Gujrat ,4 SCC 406(SC:1991)
3
Samarditya Pal,The Law Of Contempt: contempt of courts and legislature 9-10(5th ed.,2013)