Contempt of Court

Prashant Kumar
1. CONTEMPT OF COURT - POSITION UNDER INDIAN
CONSTITUTION –

 1.ARTICLE,129 Supreme Court to be a court of record

-The Supreme Court shall be a court of record and shall
have all the powers of such a court including the power to
punish for contempt of itself.
 2.ARTICLE, 215 High Courts to be courts of record - Every
High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the
powers of such a court including the power to punish for
contempt of itself.
 3. ARTICLE,144 Civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of
the Supreme Court - All authorities, civil and judicial, in the
territory of India shall act in aid of the Supreme Court.
 4. ARTICLE,141 Law declared by Supreme Court to be
binding on all courts - The law declared by the Supreme
Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of
India.
 Complete Justice Under Article 142 By Dr R. Prakash* Cite as :
(2001) 7 SCC (Jour) 14
 ARTICLE 142, Enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme
Court and unless as to discovery, etc
 (1) The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may
pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for
doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before
it, and any decree so passed or orders so made shall be
enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner
as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament
and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner
as the President may by order prescribe.
 (2) Subject to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by
Parliament, the Supreme Court shall, as respects the whole of
the territory of India, have all and every power to make any
order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any
person, the discovery or production of any documents, or the
investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.
Full faith and credit clause in the Indian
constitution
 ARTICLE 261, Public acts ,records & judicial proceedings –
 (1) Full faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to
public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State.
 (2) The manner in which and the conditions under which the acts, records and
proceedings referred to in clause (1) shall be proved and the effect thereof
determined shall be as provided by law made by Parliament.
 (3) Final judgments or orders delivered or passed by civil courts in any part of
the territory of India shall be capable of execution anywhere within that
territory according to law.
 Case laws- The rationale behind doctrine of contempt of court is protecting
dignity & authority of the court, Maninderjit Singh Bitta vs. Union of India,
(AIR2012)1SCC 273
 OBJECTIVES will be ACHIEVED BY THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIN*
1. Dignity of the Court
2. Positive, free criticism
3. Guidelines for the law
4. Reasonable limits on freedom
5. Right to reputation & privacy
6. Wilful non-compliance
7. Reasonable limit on Trial by Media
THE CONTEMPT OF THE COURT ACT ,
1971
 Civil contempt - willful disobedience to any judgment, decree,
direction, order, writ or other process of a court or willful
breach of an undertaking given to a court [Sec. 2 (b)]
 Criminal contempt - publication (whether by words. spoken or

written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or

otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act
whatsoever which-
(i) scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to
lower the authority of, any court ; or
(ii) prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due
course of any judicial proceeding; or
(iii) interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to
obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner
[Sec. 2 (c)]
Exception Of Contempt (sec.3,4,5,6,7,8,9)

 Sec,3- Innocent publication and distribution of

matter not contempt.
 Section,4- Fair and accurate report of judicial
proceeding not contempt.
 Section,5- Fair criticism of judicial act no contempt.
 Section,6– Complaint against presiding officers of
subordinate courts when not contempt. A person
shall not be guilty of contempt of court in respect
of any statement made by him in good faith
concerning the presiding officer of any subordinate
court.
 Section,7 Publication of information relating to
proceeding in chambers or in camera not
contempt except in certain cases.
 Section,8 Other defences not affected. Nothing
contained in this Act shall be construed as
implying that any other defence which would have
been a valid defence in any proceedings for
contempt of court has ceased to be available
merely by reason of the provisions of this Act.
 Section,9 Act not to imply enlargement of scope
of contempt. Nothing contained in this Act shall
be construed as implying that any disobedience,
breach, publication or other act is punishable as
contempt of court which would not be so
punishable apart from this Act.