Contempt – Constitution of India – Article 215 – Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 – Exercise of contempt jurisdiction by High Court – Scope – Suit filed by Trust against Society, decreed by Trial Court directing delivery of possession of the suit premises to the Trust – Execution proceedings initiated by the Trust– In appeal by Society, order passed staying execution proceedings – Contempt proceedings initiatiated by the Trust alleging violation of the condition set out in the stay order stating that the Society had resorted to letting out the suit premises – High Court found the contemnor-appellant guilty of willfully violating the status quo condition in the stay order however, instead of initiating contempt proceedings, it vacated the stay order passed in the appeal in exercise of contempt jurisdiction – Propriety:
Held: Directions which are explicit in the judgment or ‘are plainly self-evident’ can be taken into account for the purpose of considering whether there is any disobedience or willful violation – Court has a duty to issue appropriate directions for remedying or rectifying the things done in violation of the Court order and in that regard, the Court may even take restitutive measures at any stage of the proceedings – In addition to punishing a contemnor for disobeying its orders, the Court can also ensure that such a contemnor does not continue to enjoy the benefits of his disobedience by merely suffering the punishment meted out to him – In the present case, vacating of the stay order in the appeal by the High Court in exercise of contempt jurisdiction did not assume either a restitutive or a remedying character – Violation of the status quo condition in the stay order stood complete, even as per the High Court, and vacating of the stay order did not have the effect of restoring the parties to their original position or deny the contemnor the benefit of the disobedience which already stood concluded – Violation of a conditional stay order would entail vacating thereof in a properly constituted proceeding – High Court erred by resorting to such a step while exercising contempt jurisdiction – The concluded act in violation of the status quo order in relation to possession of the suit premises amounted to ‘civil contempt’ u/s.2(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act and warranted appropriate consequences – However, without taking recourse to such a step, the High Court thought it fit to vacate the stay order in the appeal so as to enable the Trust to execute the decree – This action of the High Court transgressed the scope and extent of its contempt jurisdiction and cannot be sustained – Impugned order set aside to that extent – However, as the High Court desisted from exercising contempt jurisdiction, despite finding the contemnor guilty of willfully violating the status quo condition in the stay order, matter remanded to the High Court for continuing with that exercise. [Paras 14-17]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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