Contempt should be restricted to the disobedience of orders and rulings. Any failure to obey the court in a dispute that doesn't involve it should alone invite contempt proceedings, observes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The Centre on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah and his lawyer Ram Jethmalani for questioning the impartiality of the judge who ordered CBI probe in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Bhushan is facing contempt proceedings for his interview to Tehelka magazine in which he made the insinuations against Justice Kapadia in 2009 as well as some other judges and previous CJIs.
The Madras high court on Thursday convicted a well-known Youtuber, A Sankar alias 'Savukku' Sankar, for criminal contempt and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment.
The top court had in November 2009 issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine.
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu police to file a case against state Forest Minister K Ponmudy, following his recent controversial remarks about Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The court warned the police that if they do not register an FIR against the DMK leader, it will initiate suo motu contempt proceedings.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was informed by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who was representing the petitioners, that they want to withdraw the plea as several petitions on the same issue are pending before the apex court and they don't want 'this to be entangled' with them.
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Gujarat government, and did not pass any interim status quo order in the meantime as sought by the counsel of the Muslim parties.
The high court asked him to appear after he tendered an unconditional apology, through an affidavit, for his alleged remarks.
A bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit took note of the fresh status report, referred by Attorney General K K Venugopal that efforts to bring Mallya back were on.
The Supreme Court on Friday said if it finds that authorities in Gujarat acted in contempt of its order on demolition of properties, it will ask them to restore the structures.
A Pakistan court on Friday gave a last chance to the government to respond to a petition seeking contempt proceedings against President Asif Ali Zardari for not acting on a suggestion that he should give up the political office of head of the ruling PPP.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has recused himself from hearing pleas related to the alleged illegal felling of hundreds of trees in the Delhi Ridge area. The decision comes after a previous bench, led by former CJI D Y Chandrachud, sought a personal affidavit from Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena in the case, which also sought contempt proceedings against certain DDA officials. CJI Khanna stated that his prior involvement with the Delhi LG while serving as the NALSA chairman would make it inappropriate for him to hear the plea. The bench has ordered the listing of the pleas before a different bench starting November 27.
The Delhi government is embroiled in multiple litigations with the Lieutenant Governor in the Supreme Court including its plea challenging the Centre's law establishing pre-eminence of the LG over the elected dispensation in controlling services in the national capital.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Monday the quantum of sentence against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, an accused in the bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, in a contempt case where he has been found guilty. A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat on March 10 had reserved its order on the punishment in the contempt case against Mallya, saying the proceedings against him have hit a "dead wall". The top court had heard senior advocate and amicus curiae Jaideep Gupta on various aspects related to the contempt law and the punishment, and had granted one last opportunity to lawyer Ankur Saigal, counsel for Mallya, to file his written submissions on the sentencing aspect.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed contempt proceedings against Coke and Pepsi in the Rajasthan high court for their failure to implement the court order to declare contents of their soft drinks.\n\n
The court said the remarks made by Gandhi were far from true and he should have refrained from those and could have been careful.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked their counsel to place the apology published in newspapers on record within two days.
The Supreme Court Tuesday extended the stay on criminal proceedings against former Wipro chairman Azim Premji, his wife and others on their plea seeking quashing of summons issued by a Bengaluru court on a "frivolous" and "mischievous" complaint filed by an NGO alleging breach of trust and corruption in merger of three companies with a Premji group firm. A bench of justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh was hearing an appeal filed by Premji challenging the Karnataka high court order of May 15 which had rejected their pleas for quashing of the January 27 summons issued by the trial court.
Calcutta high court judge Justice C S Karnan will observe hunger strikes in Delhi and three other cities demanding restoration of his administrative and judicial work and withdrawal of the suo motu contempt proceedings against him.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, will also hear a separate plea which has sought initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging it "wilfully and deliberately" disobeyed the apex court's direction to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of various demands, has broken his fast after the Punjab government intervened and dispersed protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu borders. The Supreme Court lauded Dallewal's efforts and acknowledged the government's action, while also asking for a status report on the situation. Contempt proceedings against the Punjab chief secretary and Director General of Police for not complying with the court's order of providing medical aid to Dallewal were dropped.
The apex court in November 2009, had issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine.
A lawyer has submitted an audio clip to the Delhi High Court, allegedly containing an admission by a senior Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) officer about attempts to frame a special judge in a corruption case. The lawyer, representing a court staff member who filed a petition seeking an independent investigation, claims the ACB lodged an FIR against the staff member to "settle score" with the judge who issued notices to the ACB's joint commissioner for alleged threats to staff. The audio clip allegedly features an ACB officer admitting to framing the judge due to adverse rulings and suggesting that the judge was targeted due to his questioning of the ACB's investigations.
The Supreme Court on Thursday closed activist Tushar Gandhi's contempt plea against the Delhi police after taking note of submissions that a charge sheet in a case of hate speeches made at religious assemblies in the national capital in 2021 was filed in a court in New Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday expunged the observations made by a single judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court against the apex court in a contempt case, saying they were "scandalous" and "unwarranted".
Gurumurthy's counsel said the journalist has already tendered his apology in relation to a tweet and there is no necessity for him to file another affidavit conveying an unconditional apology in clear terms.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Thursday for the remainder of the winter session of Parliament and the matter referred to the privileges committee as he did not leave the House even after repeated directions from Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Supreme Court of India has reprimanded the Rajasthan government over the alarming rise in student suicides in Kota. The court expressed its deep concern over the situation, questioning the state's efforts to address the crisis. The court also ordered an FIR to be filed in the case of a 22-year-old IIT Kharagpur student who died by suicide in his hostel room, citing a delay in reporting the incident to the police.
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has terminated the membership of BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena after he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for pointing a pistol at a sub-divisional magistrate. Meena's membership was terminated effective from May 1, following legal opinion from the advocate general and senior legal experts. Meena had approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his sentence, but the top court dismissed his plea and directed him to surrender within two weeks. The Election Commission has been informed of the vacancy, and a by-election on the Anta seat would be held within six months.
The case relates to an article published by the paper on the perks and facilities for retired judges and their families.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against heads of political parties for not following its directions to prevent criminalisation of politics in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls held earlier this year.
The Supreme Court of India has censured BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his remarks against the judiciary, stating that his comments "tend to scandalize and lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India." The court dismissed a contempt petition against Dubey but issued a scathing order criticizing his remarks, which included accusations that the court was "taking the country towards anarchy" and that Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna was "responsible for the civil wars taking place in the country." The court deemed Dubey's statements "highly irresponsible" and indicative of an attempt to "incite religious wars." The order highlighted the importance of maintaining public confidence in the judiciary and condemned attempts to undermine its authority.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Lekhi, told the bench that the apology tendered by Gandhi should be rejected and action must be taken against him as per the law.
The SC to hear 2 separate case against four state governments and Karni Sena.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday admonished the Gujarat Police over its officials publicly flogging five people belonging to the Muslim community at a village in Kheda district in 2022, asking angrily from where did they draw the authority to tie people to poles and beat them up.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court for initiation of contempt proceedings against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), alleging it has violated the timeline for completing the investigation and submitting its report on the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. An application has been filed by PIL petitioner Vishal Tiwari saying that despite the deadline given to the SEBI it has failed to comply with the direction of the court and has not submitted the final conclusion/report as was directed by the court. It said by the order dated May 17, 2023, the apex court directed SEBI to submit its report till August 14, 2023.
The man, it said, started "harassing the judge in open court in unofficial Hindi language with commentary against the mother of the judge".
Two men were hospitalised after they set themselves afire on Friday amid a bandh call in Madhya Pradesh's Pithampur against the planned disposal of 337 tonnes of Union Carbide waste in the industrial town, an official said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday tore into Patanjali Ayurved's defence for putting out misleading advertisements, rejecting the apology from yoga guru Ramdev and the firm's managing director Acharya Balkrishna as 'lip service' and warned them against perjury.
