Contemnor Showed No Repentance For Using Derogatory Language To Describe A Judge: Delhi HC Convicts Man For Contempt Of Court
The Delhi High Court held the Contemnor guilty under Section 2(c) read with Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (CC Act), and noted that the Contemnor showed no repentance for his conduct of using derogatory language to describe the Single Bench and even called them a Thief.
The Court disposed of three Contempt Petitions by convicting the Petitioner guilty and sentenced him to seven days of simple imprisonment with Rs 2,000/- as a fine. The Court emphasized that as a responsible citizen of the country, the Contemnor should have expressed their grievances in a civilized manner while maintaining the dignity of the Court and the Judicial Process.
The Bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur observed, “As a responsible citizen of the Country, the Contemnor is expected to set-forth his grievances in a civilized manner, maintaining the dignity of the Court and judicial process of law. Even if, it is taken that Contemnor due to outrage preferred the writ petitions, but despite issuance of Show Cause Notice, he without pleading guilty, filed a highly disrespectful reply thereto, which explicitly show that he has no guilt to his actions. Rather, the Contemnor has stated that he has no remorse to whatever he did and he stands by the same. The Contemnor has used utter derogatory language for the learned Single Bench to the extent of saying that the learned Single Judge is a ‘thief‟ and he has full proof of the same”.
Additional Standing Counsel Sanjeev Bhandari and Chief Government Standing Counsel Rakesh Kumar appeared for the Respondents.
The Contemnor had filed a Writ Petition seeking directions for immediate criminal prosecution of the Respondents, namely the Union of India, Multiple Police Departments, the Appointment committee of the cabinet consisting of the Prime Minister and Home Minister of the country, and private organizations in collusion with Tata on grounds that they have inflicted extreme crimes upon Petitioner and the public at large. The Writ Petition was dismissed.
The Contemnor then filed a Letter Patent Appeal challenging the Judgment of the Single Bench of the High Court. The Division Bench therefore directed for issuance of show cause notice. Three Contempt Petitions were filed challenging the order of the Division Bench whereby show cause notice was issued against Naresh Sharma seeking reasons for not initiating criminal contempt proceedings under Section 2(c) read with Section 12 of the CC Act.
The Court expressed shock to note the averments by the Contemnor, who claims to have received education in engineering and science from prestigious educational institutions, to respect the constitution and have faith in the legal system of India.
“After perusing the Judgment dated 20.07.2023, the order dated 31.08.2023, the contents of the LPAs and two complaints made to the SHO via e-mail, this Court is highly shocked to note the averments made by the Contemnor. The Contemnor who claims to have been educated in engineering and science from one of the most reputed educational institutions of India i.e. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Bombay and in USA, is expected to respect the Constitutionality of India and have faith in the legal system of law”, the Bench observed.
Furthermore, the Court noted that even if the Contemnor filed the writ petitions due to outrage, they should have pleaded guilty when issued a Show Cause Notice. Instead, the Contemnor filed a highly disrespectful reply, indicating that they have no guilt for their actions. The Contemnor used derogatory language to describe the Single Bench, even going as far as to call them a 'thief' and claiming to have proof of it.
The Bench observed that the Contemnor had no repentance for his conduct and actions and therefore held the Contemnor guilty under the CC Act and sentenced him to undergo simple imprisonment of seven days with a fine of Rs 2,000/-.
Accordingly, the Court disposed of the Petitions.
Cause Title: Court On Its Own Motion v Naresh Sharma (2023:DHC:7899-DB)
