TMI Blog2004 (4) TMI 606X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he cross-examination. A show cause notice was issued against Jokhu Singh through Superintendent of Police, Madhepura, requiring him to appear on 11th June, 1997. In spite of that Jokhu Singh did not appear. On 14th July, 1997, a wireless message was sent to him through Superintendent of Police to appear in the court on 5th August, 1997. Once again the witness did not turn up. The Court, therefore, having no other option issued a notice to Jokhu Singh to show cause why proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') be not initiated against him. Ultimately, on 27th August, 1997 the case was adjourned to 20th September, 1997 and to procure his presence, non-bailable warrant was issued. On this date also the witness did not turn up. He did not file reply to the show cause notice either. On 17th November, 1997, Jokhu Singh appeared in the court in the afternoon. Having regard to the previous order of non-bailable warrant of arrest, he was remanded to judicial custody. A petition for bail was filed on his behalf after the court hours. It was directed that the same be placed for hearing on the next date. Shri K.D. Choudhary, one of the appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Shashi Lata Singh, the then S.I., (v) Daroga singh, the then S.I. (vi) P.K. Singh, the then S.I., (vii)Rajib Rajan Dayal alias Bhagat, the then S.I., (viii) Gurubachan Singh, the then S.I., (ix) Krishna Ram, the then Inspector of Police, (x) C.D. Jha, the then A.S.I., (xi) K.N. Singh, the then Officer Incharge of Harijan P.S. Bhagalpur and (xii) Ranjit Pandey, the then Sergeant Major, Police Line, Bhagalpur. On 19th November, 1997, on the basis of the report sent by the 5th Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bhagalpur dated 18th November, 1997, Original Criminal Miscellaneous Case No. 24 of 1997 was registered and placed before a Bench of the High Court for admission. Along with the said case Civil Writ Petition C.W.J.C. No. 10625 of 1997 filed on behalf of the Young Lawyers' Association was also listed. On perusal of the report and after hearing the three Presidents of the High Court Associations and the Advocate General, the Court arrived at the conclusion that a prima facie case of criminal contempt was made out against the contemners. Accordingly proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act were initiated and a direction was issued to the Registry to issue notices t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a bar to the continuation of the contempt proceedings. But before adjourning the proceedings to the next date and having noticed that all the contemners and their advocates were present and every body was condemning the occurrence, the Court expressed the desire that some of the responsible officers like Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Inspector of Police Kotwali Shri K.D. Choudhary and Sub-Inspector of Police Ms. Shashi Lata Singh and Sergeant Major of Police Line Ranjit Pandey should disclose details of the occurrence which had taken place in the court premises on 18th November, 1997 and if possible, identify more names of such persons, who, according to them, had taken part at the time of occurrence. On the adjourned date of hearing, the Court recorded the statement of (i) A. Natarajan, the then S.P., (ii) Harihar Choudhary, the then DSP, (iii) K.D. Choudhary, the then Inspector of Police, Kotwali P.S., (iv) Ms. Shashi Lata Singh, the then S.I., and (v) Ranjit Pandey, the then Sergeat Major, Bhagalpur. The Superintendent of Police in his statement fairly narrated a part of the incident and identified certain more names, like Awadhesh Singh, Subodh Kuma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the contemners and those who were appearing in support of the contempt proceedings. In response to the show cause all the contemners in their affidavits condemned the incident of assault on Shri Barai and the lawlessness created in the civil court campus, Bhagalpur. It would be relevant to notice that some of the contemners like Harihar Choudhary, DSP, K.D. Choudhary, Inspector of Police and few others have tried to justify the act by saying that there was a resentment amongst the police personnels for the arrest of Jokhu Singh and removal of stars from his uniform in the court. The reply of the Superintendent of Police also indicated that because of such steps taken by Shri Barai the Police Officers Association led by Shri K.D. Choudhary on 17th December, 1997 met the Inspector General (Prosecution) and the Zonal I.G. and protested against the arrest of Jokhu Singh and the removal of stars. After showing their resentment these contemners also criticised the unfortunate incident and assault on Shri Barai, and his staff but they denied their presence at the time of incident in the court premises on 18th November, 1997. Show cause notice had been issued to 26 persons. Except for o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d judgment. The same are: (i) the alleged contempt is that of a court subordinate to the High Court and the allegations made constitute an offence under Section 228 IPC, and therefore the jurisdiction of the High Court to take cognizance of such a case is expressly barred under proviso to Section 10 of the Act; (ii) that the High Court cannot take suo motu notice of the contempt of a court subordinate to it. The procedure given in the High Court Rules and Orders for initiation of proceedings for contempt of subordinate court having not been followed the entire proceedings are vitiated and liable to be quashed; (iii) the standard of proof required in the criminal contempt is the same as in a criminal charge and therefore the charge of criminal contempt has to be proved by holding a trial as in a criminal case. The appellants could not be convicted on the basis of evidence by way of affidavits only. The witnesses should have been examined in Court and in any case the appellants should have been given an opportunity to cross- examine the persons who had deposed against them on affidavits to verify the version of the incident as according to them there were conflicting ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... subordinate to it only in cases where the acts alleged to constitute contempt are punishable as contempt under specific provisions of the Indian Penal Code, but not where these acts merely amount to offences of other description for which punishment has been provided in the Indian Penal Code. This judgment was analyzed and followed by a Bench of three Judges of this Court in the State of Madhya Pradesh Vs. Revashankar, 1959 SCR 1367. In this case as well the point arose regarding the interpretation to be put to a similar provision and it was held: The sub-section was considered in two decisions of this Court, Bathina Ramakrishna Reddy v. The State of Madras ([1952] S.C.R. 425) and Brahma Prakash Sharma v. The State of Uttar Pradesh ([1953] S.C.R. 1169). In the earlier case of Ramakrishna Reddy ([1952] S.C.R. 425) the appellant was the publisher and managing editor of a Telugu Weekly known as Praja Rajyam . In an issue of the said paper dated February 10, 1949, an article appeared which contained defamatory statements about the stationary Sub- Magistrate, Kovvur, and the point for consideration was if the jurisdiction of the High Court to take cognisance of such a case was e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid so often by various Judges that the object of contempt proceedings is not to afford protection to Judges personally from imputations to which they may be exposed as individuals; it is intended to be a protection to the public whose interests would be very much affected if by the act or conduct of any party, the authority of the court is lowered and the sense of confidence which people have in the administration of justice by it is weakened. It was also pointed out that there were innumerable ways by which attempts could be made to hinder or obstruct the due administration of justice in courts and one type of such interference was found in cases where there was an act which amounted to scandalising the court itself : this scandalising might manifest itself in various ways but in substance it was an attack on individual Judges or the court as a whole with or without reference to particular cases, causing unwarranted and defamatory aspersions upon the character and ability of the Judges. Such conduct is punished as contempt for the reason that it tends to create distrust in the popular mind and impair the confidence of the people in the courts which are of prime importance ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gnity of the Court against insult or injury, but, to protect and vindicate the right of the public so that the administration of justice is not perverted, prejudiced, obstructed or interfered with. The power to punish for contempt is thus for the protection of public justice, whose interest requires that decency and decorum is preserved in Courts of Justice. Those who have to discharge duty in a Court of Justice are protected by the law, and shielded in the discharge of their duties. Any deliberate interference with the discharge of such duties either in court or outside the court by attacking the presiding officers of the court, would amount to criminal contempt and the courts must take serious cognizance of such conduct. In the present case, a judicial officer of the rank of District Judge was attacked in a pre-planned and calculated manner in his court room and when he tried to protect himself from physical harm by retiring to his chambers, by chasing him there and causing injuries to him. The raising of slogans and demanding unconditional bail for Jokhu Singh further compounded the offence. The Courts cannot be compelled to give command orders . The act committed amounts ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was held: 16. Section 2(c) of the Act defines criminal contempt . Section 9 emphasizes that 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 . Section 10 runs as under : Every High Court shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, powers and authority, in accordance with the same procedure and practice, in respect of contempts of courts subordinate to it as it has and exercises in respect of contempts of itself : Then, there is a proviso which is not material for our purpose. The provision in Section 10 is but a replica of Section 3 of the 1952 Act. The phrase courts subordinate to it used in Section 10 is wide enough to include all courts which are judicially subordinate to the High Court, even though administrative control over them under Article 235 of the Constitution does not vest in the High Court. Under Article 227 of the Constitution the High Court has the power of superintendence over all courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction. The Court of Re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erequisites for punishment, but also in the matter of procedure and practice. Such a construction which will bring Section 15(2) in conflict with Section 10, has to be avoided, and the other interpretation which will be in harmony with Section 10 is to be accepted. Harmoniously construed, sub-section (2) of Section 15 does not deprive the High Court of the power of taking cognizance of criminal contempt of a subordinate court, on its own motion, also. If the intention of the legislature was to take away the power of the High Court to take suo motu cognizance of such contempt, there was no difficulty in saying so in unequivocal language, or by wording the sub-section in a negative form. We have, therefore, no hesitation in holding in agreement with the High Court, that sub-section (2) of Section 15, properly construed, does not restrict the power of the High Court to take cognizance of and punish contempt of a subordinate court, on its own motion. [Emphasis supplied] We respectfully agree with the view taken in this judgment and hold that the High Court could initiate proceedings on its own motion under the Contempt of Courts Act against the appellants. On the facts of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ial. High Court rejected this contention by holding that such a stand could not be taken at that stage of the proceedings. It has been held in Arun Paswan case (supra) that a party which fails to avail of the opportunity to cross- examine at the appropriate stage is precluded from taking the plea of non- observance of principles of natural justice at a later stage. Such a plea would not be tenable. It has repeatedly been held by this Court (Ref: 1995 (2) SCC 584) that the procedure prescribed either under the Code of Criminal Procedure or under the Evidence Act is not attracted to the proceedings initiated under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act. The High Court can deal with such matters summarily and adopt its own procedure. The only caution that has to be observed by the Court in exercising this inherent power of summary procedure is that the procedure followed must be fair and the contemners are made aware of the charges levelled against them and given a fair and reasonable opportunity. Having regard to the fact that contempt proceedings are to be decided expeditiously in a summary manner the convictions have been recorded without extending the opportunity to the conte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s as quickly as possible. To quote from the above-referred to case However, the fact that the process is summary does not mean that the procedural requirement, viz., that an opportunity of meeting the charge, is denied to the contemner. The degree of precision with which the charge may be stated depends upon the circumstances. So long as the gist of the specific allegations is made clear or otherwise the contemner is aware of the specific allegation, it is not always necessary to formulate the charge in a specific allegation. The consensus of opinion among the judiciary and the jurists alike is that despite the objection that the Judge deals with the contempt himself and the contemner has little opportunity to defend himself, there is a residue of cases where not only it is justifiable to punish on the spot but it is the only realistic way of dealing with certain offenders. This procedure does not offend against the principle of natural justice, viz., nemo judex in sua causa since the prosecution is not aimed at protecting the Judge personally but protecting the administration of justice. The threat of immediate punishment is the most effective deterrent against misconduct. The Ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... perform its duties and functions in a fair and free manner, the dignity and the authority of the courts has to be respected and maintained at all stages and by all concerned failing which the very constitutional scheme and public faith in the judiciary runs the risk of being lost. It was urged with some vehemence that principles of natural justice were not observed in as much as opportunity to cross examine the witnesses who had deposed on affidavits is concerned it may be stated that no such opportunity was asked for in the High Court at trial stage. It was for them to ask for such an opportunity to cross examine the parties who had deposed against them on affidavit. Since the contemners did not avail of the opportunity at the trial stage the plea of non-observations of principles of natural justice is not tenable. Appellants were made aware of the procedure which was adopted by the High Court. They were given full opportunity to put forth their point of view. Each of them filed detailed affidavits along with evidence in support thereof. They had attached their duty charts showing that they could not have been present at the place of occurrence as they were on duty somewhere e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... material available on the record including the evidence produced by the contemners. It was not necessary for the High Court to discuss each and every affidavit individually. Out of 26 persons named only 9 have been convicted by the High Court. Since the procedure adopted was summary the High Court has taken care not to convict a person unless direct evidence and/or circumstances with sufficient corroborative material doubtless fastening guilt on the contemners who have been punished was available. The High Court found only those contemners guilty against whom the element of doubt was completely eliminated. Affidavit evidence if based on hearsay has been excluded. Contemners against whom there was single identification were also given the benefit of doubt. The version put forth by the appellants was not accepted as it fell short of proof. High Court has considered the entire evidence on the record while recording a finding of guilt against the appellants. Thus the plea that the High Court did not take into consideration the affidavits of independent witnesses is not tenable. Learned counsel for the appellants tried to point out that the appellants were not present at the scene of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gainst the District Sessions Judge. One of the slogans raised was District Judge Murdabad, Bhagalpur Dohrana Hai . Proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act were initiated. They were convicted under the Contempt of Courts Act and their conviction was upheld by this Court. What is being emphasised is that had timely action been taken by the authorities and the criminal proceedings concluded in time, incident, as referred to above, where slogans were raised District Judge Murdabad, Bhagalpur Dohrana Hai could have been avoided. The incident with which we are dealing with took place on 18th November 1997. The incident which has been dealt with in the case of Arun Paswan, S.I. (supra) is dated 20th January, 2002. Both the incidents have taken place in the State of Bihar, one in Bhagalpur and the other in Sasaram. The manner in which the police personnel belonging to middle level of police administration and entrusted with such responsibilities as require theirs coming into contact with public day to day persuades us to make observation that there is something basically wrong with the police in Bihar. Misconduct amounting to gross violation of discipline committed not by a si ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of the systems gets eroded. The Judges are ___ as a jurist calls ___ 'paper tigers'. They do not have any machinery of their own for implementing their orders. People, while approaching the Court of law which they regard as temple of justice, feel safe and secure whilst they are in the Court. The police personnel is deployed in the Court campus for the purpose of maintaining order and to see that not only the Judges can work fearlessly in a calm, cool and serene atmosphere but also to see that anyone coming to the Court too feels safe and secure thereat. Every participant in court proceedings is either a seeker of justice or one who comes to assist in administration of justice. So is the expectation of the members of the Bar who are treated as officers of the Court. We shudder to feel what would happen if the police personnel itself, and that too in an organised manner, is found to be responsible for disturbing the peace and order in the Court campus, for causing assault on the Judges and thus sullying the temple of justice apart from bringing a bad name to an indispensable organ of the executive wing of the State. Police is the executive force of the State to which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l. Professor R. Deb, a scholar in Indian Police Service said - If law represents the collective conscience of Society, the Policeman, its principal law enforcing agent ought to be the staunchest protagonist, defender and keeper of that conscience. (Police and Law Enforcement, published by S.C. Sarkar Sons in 1988, p.1). He quotes Shri B.N. Mallick ___ an eminent policeman of his times, as saying, that a modern policeman ought to be an ideal citizen from every point of view. He must be on the side of good everywhere, and at all times. But to do good the policeman must himself be good. To be able to induce others to obey the laws of society, he must obey them first. With his example set before them, people will flock to his banner not only to seek his help and protection but also to assist him in his noble task. He must be the leader amongst men. This leadership he must earn by his integrity, kindness, character, steadfastness, dignity, ability and self- sacrifice. He must always set the right example . Professor R.Deb's description of an ideal police is ___ He should never forget that, like every other citizen he too is subject to the Rule of Law, and is legally responsibl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to watch and if necessary monitor the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry and issue directions to the criminal courts to expeditiously conclude the pending criminal cases. If the commission of enquiry faces non-cooperation or any obstruction in its progress, the Secretary of the Commission may send a communication to the Registrar General of this Court pointing out the difficulties, if any, faced by the Commission and contributing to the delay in proceedings and any communication so received shall be placed by the Registrar General before the Court for directions on judicial side. The result of disciplinary proceedings, the judgment of the criminal Courts and the findings of Commission of Enquiry shall be communicated forthwith to the Registrar General of this Court and in any case before expiry of a period of six months from today. Copies of this judgment shall be circulated to the Registrar General, High Court of Patna and the Chief Secretary of the State of Bihar for being brought to the notice of all concerned. Non-compliance with the directions given herein may be treated as disobedience of the order of this Court liable to be dealt with accordingly. The appeals are d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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