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TMI Blog1952 (2) TMI 23X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... harassing litigants in various ways. He was said to have a broker, through whom negotiations in connec- tion with these corrupt practices were carried on. Several specific instances were cited of cases tried by that offi- cer, where it was rumoured that he had either taken bribes or had put the parties to undue harassment, because they were obdurate enough to refuse the demands of his broker. The article, which is a short one, concludes with the fol- lowing paragraph:-- "There are party factions in many villages in Kovvur Taluk. Taking advantage of those parties many wealthy persons make attempt to get the opposite party punished either by giving bribes or making recommendations. To appoint Magistrates who run after parties for a Taluk like this....... is to betray the public. It is tantamount to failure of justice. Will the Collector enquire into the matter and allay the public of their fears?" The attention of the State Government being drawn to this article, an application was filed by the AdvocateGener- al of Madras before the High Court on November 14, 1949, under section 2 of the Contempt of Courts Act (Act XII of 1926) praying that suitable action might be taken ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tempt of Courts Act. The other contention advanced by the learned counsel relates to the merits of the case and it is urged that in publishing the article objected to, the appellant acted in perfect good faith, and as the article amounted to nothing else but a demand for enquiry into the conduct of a particular person who was believed to be guilty of corrupt practices in the discharge of his judicial duties, there was no contempt of court either intended or committed by the appellant. So far as the first point is concerned, the determina- tion of the question raised by the appellant would depend upon the proper interpretation to be put upon section 2(3) of the Contempt of Courts Act which runs as follows :-- "No High Court shall take cognizance of a contempt alleged to have been committed in respect of a court subor- dinate to it where such contempt is an offence punishable under the Indian Penal Code." According to Mr. Sinha, what the sub-section means is that if the act by which a party is alleged to have commit- ted contempt of a subordinate court constitutes offence of any description whatsoever punishable under the Indian Penal Code, the High Court is precluded f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t to this restriction, that cases of contempt which have already been provided for in the Indian Penal Code should not be taken cognizance of by the High Court. This seems to be the principle underlying section 2(3)of the Contempt of Courts Act. What these cases are need not be exhaustively determined for purposes of the present case, but some light is undoubtedly thrown upon this matter by the provision of section 480 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers any civil, criminal or revenue court to punish summarily a person who is found guilty of committing any offence under sections 176, 178, 179, 180 or section 228 of the Indian Penal Code in the view or presence of the court. We are not prepared to say, as has been said by the Patna High Court in Jnanendra prasad v. Gopal(I.L.R 12 Pat. 172.), that the only section of the Indian Penal Code which deals with contempt committed against a court of justice or judicial officer is section 228. Offences under sections 175, 178, 179 and 180 may also, as section 480 of the Criminal Proce- dure Code shows, amount to contempt of court if the "public servant" referred to in these sections happens to be a judicial officer in a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oceeds upon the assumption that the idea underlying the provision of section 2(3) of the Contempt of Courts Act is that if a person can be punished by some other tribunal, then the High Court should not entertain any proceeding for contempt. It is to be noticed that the learned Judge, who decided this case, himself took the opposite view in the case of Subordinate Judge, First Class, Hoshangabad v. Jawaharlal(A.I.R. 1940 Nag. 407.) and definitely held that the prohibition contained in section 2(3) of the Contempt of Courts Act refers to offences punishable as contempt of court by the Indian Penal Code and not to offences punishable otherwise than as contempt. This decision was neither noticed nor dissented from in the subsequent case, and it is quite possible that the attention of the learned judge was not drawn to this earlier pronouncement of his, in which case the matter would certainly have been more fully discussed. We think further that the decision of the Calcutta High Court in V.M. Bason v. A. H. Skone which was the basis of the decision of the learned Judge in the subsequent case does not really support the view taken in it. In the Calcutta case what happened was, that a c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Indian Penal Code and it may be open to the judge to take steps against the libeller in the ordinary way for vindication of his character and personal dignity as a judge; but such libel may or may not amount to contempt of court. As the Privy Council observed in Surendra Nath Banerjee v. The Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court,( I.L.R. 10 Cal. 109 at 131.) "although contempt may include defamation, yet an offence of contempt is something more than mere defamation and is of a different character." When the act of defaming a judge is calculated to obstruct or interfere with the due course of justice or proper administration of law, it would certainly amount to contempt. TIle offence of con- tempt is really a wrong done to the public by weakening the authority and influence of courts of law which exist for their good. As was said by Willmot, C.J.( Willmot's Opinions page 256; Rex v. Davies 30 at p. 40--41.) "attacks upon the judges excite in the minds of the people a general dissatisfaction with all judicial determi- nations...... and whenever man's allegiance to the laws is so fundamentally shaken it is the most fatal and dangerous obstruction of j ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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