The Indian Supreme Court docket (SC) reduced Friday a sentence in a prison contempt of courtroom case by the Delhi Excessive Court docket (DHC) in opposition to a lawyer, Virendra Singh, over his remarks in opposition to the judges of the DHC. The lawyer was convicted and sentenced to 6 months in jail and a advantageous of two,000 rupees.
The SC, in its order, famous that the lawyer had filed an apology on January 18, 2024, addressing misconduct. The courtroom additional emphasised that while the excessive courtroom’s contempt order was deemed justifiable primarily based on the lawyer’s conduct, contemplating the apology, the courtroom determined to cut back the sentence to the interval already undergone by the lawyer.
In July 2022, Singh filed a plea accusing DHC judges of appearing arbitrarily. He additionally accused judges of intentionally twisting points of their orders, favoring the accused illegally. Moreover, Singh refused the courtroom’s directive to amend the plea and take away the objectionable parts. Subsequently, a single-judge bench issued a contempt discover, and the case was transferred to a two-judge division bench of DHC.
Singh approached the SC in opposition to the January 9 DHC judgment, convicting him of prison contempt of courtroom and sentencing him to imprisonment and to pay a advantageous. Nevertheless, the SC offered the contemnor Singh with a chance to furnish an apology for his remarks in its January 12 order. The courtroom instructed the petitioner to submit apologies to the involved judges by 2 PM on January 16, 2024. Police authorities had been directed to make sure the petitioner’s in-person look earlier than every choose requiring an apology.
Subsequently, the DHC heard Singh on January 16 and famous in its order that Singh, in compliance with SC’s January 12 order, submitted an affidavit apologizing, clarifying that he didn’t intend to scandalize a choose. It was additionally famous that Singh expressed regret, pledging warning to keep away from such errors sooner or later, emphasizing that the error was unintentional and made within the pursuit of justice. Subsequently, the affidavit of apology was taken into cognizance by the DHC.
Nevertheless, the SC, in its January 16 order, acknowledged it was dissatisfied with the petitioner’s apology filed on January 15. Proceedings had been rescheduled for January 19, 2024, to permit the petitioner one other likelihood for a correct apology, together with addressing unfounded allegations. Thereafter, Singh once more filed an apology on January 18 which was taken up by the SC on Saturday and his sentence was diminished.
“Prison contempt” of courtroom, as outlined underneath Part 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, includes publicly undermining a courtroom’s authority, disrupting judicial proceedings, or obstructing the administration of justice by means of spoken or written phrases, indicators, seen representations, or different acts.
