Muthu Karuppan vs Parithi Ilamvazhuthi & Anr

Muthu Karuppan .... Appellant(s)

Versus

Parithi Ilamvazhuthi & Anr. .... Respondent(s)

J U D G M E N T

P. Sathasivam, J.

1) This appeal is filed against the final judgment and order

dated 29.10.2004 passed by the Division Bench of the High

Court of Judicature at Madras in Contempt Petition No. 397 of

2001 whereby the High Court held the respondents therein

guilty of the offence punishable under Section 2 (c) of the

Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (in short `the Act') and

sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for 7 days under

Section 12 of the Act.

1 2) Brief Facts:

(a) Parithi Ilamvazhuthi-Respondent No. 1 herein was

elected as Member of Legislative Assembly (in short `MLA') of

the Egmore Constituency, Chennai in the Elections held on

10.05.2001 to the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly.

Large scale violence and several attempts of booth capturing

were reported on the day of election. In respect of the same,

Crime No. 958 of 2001 was registered against his opposite

party candidate John Pandian and others for various offences.

Similarly, Crime No. 960 of 2001 was registered against

Respondent No. 1 by one David for various offences. John

Pandian was arrested on 10.05.2001 and remanded to judicial

custody. Respondent No. 1 filed an application for

anticipatory bail being Crl. M.P. No. 6244 of 2001 before the

Sessions Court, Chennai and the same was dismissed on

16.05.2001 stating that the investigation is at an early stage

and enlargement would hamper the investigation.

(b) On 17.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 was arrested and

remanded to judicial custody. On the same day, Muthu

Karuppan-the appellant herein was appointed as

2

Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai City and assumed

charge. On 21.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 moved an

application for bail being Crl. M.P. No. 1379 of 2001 before the

XIV Metropolitan Magistrate which was dismissed on the same

day. On 22.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 moved an application

for bail being Crl. M.P. No. 6277 of 2001 before the Principal

Sessions Court, Chennai mainly on the ground that he has to

attend the Assembly which has commenced on 22.05.2001 to

take oath as MLA. On 23.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 was

granted conditional bail by the Sessions Judge.

(c) On 24.05.2001, Rajendra Kumar, Inspector of Police,

(L&O), Tamil Nadu-Respondent No. 2 herein, filed an

application for cancellation of bail being Crl. O.P. No. 9352 of

2001 before the High Court of Madras and sought for stay of

bail granted to Respondent No. 1 herein. On the same day,

learned single Judge of the High Court stayed the order of

grant of bail and ordered notice to Respondent No. 1 on the

ground that the victim, namely, David is in a serious condition

and the accused is in police custody. On 28.05.2001, on

receipt of the said notice, Respondent No. 1 filed a counter

3

affidavit submitting that the statement of Respondent No. 2

regarding police custody is false. On 29.05.2001, Respondent

No. 2 filed his reply affidavit admitting that it was a mistake by

oversight and the same is neither willful nor wanton.

(d) On 30.05.2001, the petition for cancellation of bail was

dismissed by the High Court holding that no ground was made

out for cancellation of the bail. After the order dated

30.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 filed Contempt Application No.

397 of 2001 before the High Court stating that on the

direction, supervision and knowledge of the appellant herein,

Respondent No. 2 moved an application to cancel the bail

granted to him on the basis of false statement thereby

prevented him from attending the Assembly.

(e) On 29.10.2004, the Division Bench of the High Court held

the respondents therein guilty of the offence punishable under

Section 2(c) of the Act and sentenced them to undergo simple

imprisonment for 7 days under Section 12 of the Act.

(f) Aggrieved by the judgment and order of the High Court,

appellant herein filed Criminal Appeal No. 1376 of 2004 before

this Court and on 13.12.2004, this Court admitted the appeal

4

and stayed the operation of the impugned order insofar as it

relates to the appellant. Respondent No. 2 also filed Criminal

Appeal No. 1500 of 2004 before this Court and by order dated

05.01.2005, this Court dismissed the appeal on merits holding

that the case of the Commissioner of Police stands entirely on

a different footing.

3) Heard Mr. A.K. Ganguli, learned senior counsel for the

appellant and Mr. Altaf Ahmed, learned senior counsel for

respondent No.1 and Mr. S. Ravi Shankar, learned counsel for

respondent No.2.

4) Before going into the correctness or otherwise of the

impugned order of the Division Bench punishing the appellant

for the offence under Section 2(c) of the Act and sentencing

him under Section 12 of the Act to undergo simple

imprisonment for 7 days, it is useful to refer the facts leading

to initiation of contempt proceeding. It is the grievance of

Respondent No. 1 that after the grant of bail, Respondent No.

2 filed a false affidavit in Criminal O.P. No. 9352 of 2001 that

the police custody had been ordered by the XIV Metropolitan

Magistrate on 23.05.2001, based on which, the learned single

5

Judge of the High Court stayed the order of grant of bail

passed in favour of Respondent No. 1. After preliminary

examination, the Division Bench, by order dated 20.06.2001,

issued notice to Respondent No. 2 herein to show cause as to

why contempt proceeding against him should not be initiated

for having made false statement with intent to mislead the

Court. In the same proceeding, the Division Bench directed

issuance of notice to the Commissioner of Police-appellant

herein as to the averments of an elected MLA being in police

custody could not reasonably have been made prima facie

without the knowledge of the Commissioner, more so, when

the election had just taken place and the elected member was

required to take oath, but by reason of his detention was being

prevented from taking oath. In the same paragraph, it was

further stated that the extent to which the Commissioner had

knowledge about the filing of the petition for cancellation of

bail, the instructions, if any, he had given in that regard, the

persons to whom such instructions had been given and the

nature of instructions shall also be disclosed by the

Commissioner in his affidavit.

6 5) Based on the notice issued by the Division Bench in its

order dated 20.06.2001, the appellant-Commissioner of Police,

Chennai City, at the relevant time and the second respondent

Inspector of Police (L&O), Chennai filed separate affidavits

explaining their stand.

6) In order to understand the above issue, it is relevant to

refer Section 2(c) of the Act which defines criminal contempt

as:

"(c) "criminal contempt" means the publication (whether

by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible

representation, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing

of any other act whatsoever which-

(i) scandalizes or tends to scandalize, of lowers or

tends to lower the authority of, any court; or

(ii) prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with,

the due course of any judicial proceeding; or

(iii) interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs

or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice

in any other manner."

7) Giving false evidence by filing false affidavit is an evil

which must be effectively curbed with a strong hand.

Prosecution should be ordered when it is considered expedient

in the interest of justice to punish the delinquent, but there

must be a prima facie case of "deliberate falsehood" on a

7

matter of substance and the court should be satisfied that

there is a reasonable foundation for the charge.

8) In a series of decisions, this Court held that the

enquiry/contempt proceedings should be initiated by the court

in exceptional circumstances where the court is of the opinion

that perjury has been committed by a party deliberately to

have some beneficial order from the court. There must be

grounds of a nature higher than mere surmise or suspicion for

initiating such proceedings. There must be distinct evidence

of the commission of an offence by such a person as mere

suspicion cannot bring home the charge of making false

statement, more so, the court has to determine as on facts

whether it is expedient in the interest of justice to enquire into

offence which appears to have been committed.

9) The contempt proceedings being quasi criminal in nature,

burden and standard of proof is the same as required in

criminal cases. The charges have to be framed as per the

statutory rules framed for the purpose and proved beyond

reasonable doubt keeping in mind that the alleged contemnor

is entitled to the benefit of doubt. Law does not permit

8

imposing any punishment in contempt proceedings on mere

probabilities, equally, the court cannot punish the alleged

contemnor without any foundation merely on conjectures and

surmises. As observed above, the contempt proceeding being

quasi criminal in nature require strict adherence to the

procedure prescribed under the rules applicable in such

proceedings.

10) In exercise of the powers conferred on the High Court

under Articles 215 and 225 of the Constitution of India and in

terms of Section 23 of the Act, the Madras High Court

Contempt of Court Rules, 1975 (in short `the Rules') have been

framed. The said Rules prescribe procedure for initiating

contempt and various steps to be adhered to. By drawing our

attention to the Rules, Mr. Ganguli, learned senior counsel for

the appellant submitted that Rules 4 and 8 have not been

complied with. By emphasizing the principles in paras 12 and

16 of the decision of this Court in R.S. Sujatha vs. State of

Karnataka & Ors., 2010 (12) Scale 556, learned senior

counsel submitted that the contempt proceedings being quasi

criminal in nature require strict adherence to the procedure

9

prescribed under the rules applicable to such proceedings. He

also pointed out that while sending notice, relevant documents

have not been enclosed and the consent of Advocate General

was not obtained for initiating contempt proceedings against

the appellant. Insofar as the documents referred to being

certain orders of the court, no serious objection was taken

note of for not sending the same.

Consent of the Advocate General

11) The relevant provision which deals with cognizance of

criminal contempt in other cases is Section 15 of the Act

which reads as under:

"15. Cognizance of criminal contempt in other

cases.--(1) In the case of a criminal contempt, other

than a contempt referred to in Section 14, the Supreme

Court or the High Court may take action on its own

motion or on a motion made by--

(a) the Advocate-General, or

(b) any other person, with the consent in writing to

the Advocate-General, or

(c) in relation to the High Court for the Union

territory of Delhi, such Law Officer as the Central

Government may, by notification in the Official

Gazette, specify in this behalf, or any other

person, with the consent in writing of such Law

Officer."

10

The whole object of prescribing procedural mode of taking

cognizance is to safeguard the valuable time of the Court from

being wasted by frivolous contempt petitions. In State of

Kerala vs. M.S. Mani & Ors., (2001) 8 SCC 82, this Court

held that the requirement of obtaining prior consent of the

Advocate General in writing for initiating proceedings of

criminal contempt is mandatory and failure to obtain prior

consent would render the motion non-maintainable. In case,

a party obtains consent subsequent to filing of the petition, it

would not cure the initial defect and thus, the petition would

not become maintainable.

12) In Bal Thackrey vs. Harish Pimpalkhute & Anr., AIR

2005 SC 396, this Court held that in absence of the consent of

the Advocate General in respect of a criminal contempt filed by

a party under Section 15 of the Act, taking suo motu action for

contempt without a prayer, was not maintainable.

13) However, in Amicus Curiae vs. Prashant Bhushan and

Anr., (2010) 7 SCC 592, this Court has considered the earlier

judgments and held that in a rare case, even if the cognizance

11

is deemed to have been taken in terms of Rule 3(c) of the Rules

to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court,

1975, without the consent of the Attorney General or the

Solicitor General, the proceedings must be held to be

maintainable in view of the fact that the issues involved in the

proceedings had far reaching greater ramifications and impact

on the administration of justice and on the justice delivery

system and the credibility of the court in the eyes of general

public.

14) It is clear from the recent decision of this Court in

Prashant Bhushan's case (supra) that if the issue involved

in the proceedings had greater impact on the administration of

justice and on the justice delivery system, the court is

competent to go into the contempt proceedings even without

the consent of the Advocate General as the case may be.

15) Now, coming to the merits of the impugned order of the

High Court, contempt proceeding was initiated mainly on the

basis of a false statement made on oath by Respondent No. 2

which resulted in stay of the bail order passed by the Sessions

12

Judge, Chennai in favour of the Respondent No. 1, and

prevented him from taking oath in the Assembly. Inasmuch

as the High Court has dealt with the issue elaborately on

factual aspects and we also adverted to the same in the earlier

part of our judgment, there is no need to traverse the same

once again. In respect of violence on the day of election,

Respondent No. 1 was arrested and remanded to judicial

custody on 17.05.2001. On the same day, that is, on

17.05.2001, the appellant was appointed as Commissioner of

Police, Greater Chennai City and assumed charge. On

21.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 moved an application for bail in

Crl. M.P. No. 1379 of 2001 before the XIV Metropolitan

Magistrate which was dismissed on the same day. On

22.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 moved an application for bail

before the Sessions Judge in Crl. M.P. No. 6277 of 2001

mainly on the ground that as the new Assembly Session

commences on 22.05.2001, he has to take oath and further

the victim, namely, David has also been discharged from the

hospital. On 23.05.2001, Respondent No. 1 was granted

conditional bail by the Sessions Judge mainly on the ground

13

that he has to take oath as MLA. It is further seen that

against grant of bail to Respondent No. 1, Inspector of Police-

Respondent No. 2 filed an application being Crl. O.P. No. 9352

of 2001 on 24.05.2001 for cancellation of bail with application

for stay before the High Court. On the same day, vacation

Judge of the High Court stayed the order of grant of bail to

Respondent No. 1 till 29.05.2001 on the ground that victim,

namely, David is in serious condition and the accused

Respondent No. 1 is in police custody. By pointing out that

the information furnished by Respondent No. 2 in his affidavit

filed in support of the application for stay of the order of grant

of bail regarding his police custody is false, Respondent No. 1

filed a counter affidavit praying for vacation of the stay granted

by the High Court. On 29.05.2001, Respondent No. 2 filed his

reply affidavit submitting that on 23.05.2001 application

seeking police custody of other 8 accused were made and in

the affidavit filed in support of the petition to cancel the bail,

by oversight, it was mentioned that police custody was also

obtained in respect of the Respondent No. 1. He also conveyed

to the court that it is a mistake by oversight and the same is

14

neither willful nor wanton. On going through the material

placed, the learned Single Judge, by order dated 30.05.2001,

dismissed Crl. O.P. No. 9352 of 2001 filed by Respondent No.

2 to cancel the bail granted to the first respondent by the

Sessions Judge.

16) The Division Bench, based on the materials placed by

Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 concluded that Respondent No. 2

has filed a false affidavit knowing well the contents of the

same are false in order to mislead the court for preventing the

petitioner therein, an MLA, from coming out of the jail thereby

restrained him from attending the Assembly. Though

Respondent No. 2 filed Crl. Appeal No. 1500 of 2004, the same

was dismissed by this Court on 05.01.2005. While dismissing

the appeal of Respondent No. 2, this Court made the following

observation which is relevant and is reproduced hereunder:

"Heard learned counsel for the appellant.

It has been pointed out that the appeal filed by the

Commissioner of Police has been admitted by this

Court. In our view, the case of the Commissioner of

Police stands entirely on a different footing. So far as

the appellant is concerned, we do not find any merit in

his appeal.

Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed."

15 17) The Division Bench, by the impugned order, proceeded

on the fact that the Commissioner of Police-appellant herein

was aware of the arrest of Respondent No. 1 and also of the

fact that as an elected MLA because of the wrong information

by Respondent No. 2, the High Court stayed the order of bail

and he was prevented from assuming office as MLA and dealt

with the matter and finally convicted him under Section 2(c) of

the Act. It is the definite stand of the appellant that he was

never consulted by the subordinate police officers before filing

of the application for cancellation of bail and he was not aware

of the contents of the said affidavit and as such he was not

responsible. It is also his claim that when the incorrect

statement made in the affidavit filed in support of the petition

was brought to his notice by Mr. Christopher Nelson, Deputy

Commissioner of Police on 28.05.2001, he directed him to give

instruction to Respondent No. 2 to file a proper affidavit and

as such, he was never a party to the said false affidavit and,

therefore, he is not liable for contempt.

16 18) It is seen from the written statement made by the

appellant before the High Court that he was informed about

the arrest of MLA-Respondent No. 1 and the same has been

conveyed to the Speaker as well as the Chief Secretary. It is

the stand of the Division Bench that the Commissioner of

Police must have been informed by the subordinate Police

Officers not only about the arrest of Respondent No. 1 but also

his release by the Sessions Judge to enable him to inform the

Speaker and the Government. However, according to the

Division Bench, the Commissioner did not clearly indicate

either in the counter affidavit or in the written statement that

he was informed about the bail order passed by the Sessions

Judge on 23.05.2001. The High Court has also referred to the

general powers of the Commissioner of Police with reference to

certain standing orders issued by the Government. There is

no dispute that the Commissioner of Police being Head of the

Police Force of the City, if he comes across the arrest/release

of an elected MLA, he is duty bound to inform the Speaker as

well as the Government. However, it is his definite case and

asserted that he was not aware of the information furnished

17

by Respondent No. 2 for cancellation of bail granted by the

Sessions Judge and the ultimate stay order passed by the

High Court.

19) In order to refute the claim of the Commissioner of Police,

the Division Bench heavily relied on the presence of K.

Anthonisamy, Assistant Commissioner of Police and C.

Chandrasekar, Deputy Commissioner of Police in the office of

the Public Prosecutor along with Respondent No. 2 who filed

an affidavit praying for cancellation of the bail. It is true that

both Assistant Commissioner of Police and Deputy

Commissioner of Police in their respective affidavits admitted

their presence in the office of the Public Prosecutor and their

interaction with one Mr. Raja, the then government counsel.

It is relevant to refer the information furnished in the form of

an affidavit dated 04.04.2003 by Christopher Nelson.

According to him, he joined as Deputy Commissioner of Police,

Law and Order, Triplicane, District Chennai City on

26.05.2001. He asserted that he was not aware of the details

of the case in question prior to 26.05.2001. The last two

18

paragraphs, namely, paras 6 and 7 of his affidavit filed before

the Division Bench are relevant which read thus:

"6. I respectfully state that Thiru K. Antony Samy, who

was then Assistant Commissioner of Police, (Law &

Order), Kilpauk Range, Chennai-7 informed me on

28052001, that the aforesaid Parithi Ilamvazhuthi had

filed a counter affidavit before the Hon'ble High Court,

seeking to reject the application of cancellation of bail

on the ground that some incorrect information was filed

by the first respondent I was further informed that in

the affidavit filed by the first respondent seeking

cancellation of bail on 24.05.2001. It has been stated

that for granting police custody the XIV Metropolitan

Magistrate by his order dated 23.052001 had directed

that some accused to be produced on 28.052001.

7 I, respectfully submit that on the very same day, I

informed the commissioner of Police, the second

respondent about the allegations of mistake in the

affidavit filed by the investigation officer, the first

respondent herein, I was directed by the second

respondent herein to instruct the Assistant

Commissioner of Police to file a fresh affidavit, if

necessary before the High Court, explaining the alleged

mistake in the affidavit filed by the first respondent

earlier. In compliance thereof, I instructed Thiru

Antony Samy, the Assistant Commissioner of Police,

Law & Order, Kilpauk Range, to see that a proper

affidavit is filed by the inspector concerned before the

Hon'ble High Court, explaining the circumstances under

which alleged mistake appeared in the affidavit filed

earlier by him. Accordingly, such an affidavit was filed

before the Hon'ble High Court on 29.052001."

It is clear at least from para 7 that when the information

relating to making wrong statement at the instance of

Respondent No. 2 was brought to the notice of the

19

Commissioner of Police, he directed the Deputy Commissioner

of Police to instruct the Assistant Commissioner of Police and

Inspector of Police to file fresh affidavit explaining the alleged

mistake in the affidavit filed by Respondent No. 2 earlier. It is

also seen that pursuant to the said direction of the

Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Commissioner of Police

instructed one K. Anthonisamy, Assistant Commissioner of

Police to see that proper affidavit is filed by the Inspector

concerned before the High Court explaining the circumstances

under which the mistake appeared in the affidavit filed on

earlier occasion. Pursuant to the notice by the Division Bench

of the High Court, C. Chandrasekar, Deputy Commissioner of

Police at Triplicane also filed an affidavit to the effect that after

knowing the grant of bail by the Principal Sessions Judge,

Chennai releasing Respondent No. 1 after considering

seriousness of the case and after discussion with "superior

officers" it has been decided to move an application for

cancellation of the bail in the High Court. The Division Bench

relying on the statement of the above officer concluded that

the Commissioner of Police was consulted and it was he who

20

instructed the subordinate Police Officers to move an

application for stay of grant of bail. Though in para 4, the

deponent of the affidavit, namely, C. Chandrasekar has

mentioned that "after discussion with superior officers" it is

not clear whether he consulted the Commissioner of Police i.e.

appellant herein on the relevant issue.

20) K. Anthonisamy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, CBCID,

Chennai Range who was working as an Assistant

Commissioner of Police at Kilpauk Chennai during the

relevant period also swore an affidavit on 24.09.2004. In para

4, he also mentioned that after discussion with "superior

officers" and on instructions, it was decided to file an

application for cancellation of bail in the High Court. Here

again, the Division Bench has concluded that the

Commissioner of Police ought to have been consulted by the

Assistant Commissioner of Police and only with his knowledge

petition was filed for cancellation of bail. The above averment

in para 4 merely mentions discussion with "superior officers"

and there is no specific reference to the Commissioner of

Police who is the Head of the Police Force in the Chennai City.

21 In the same way, in para 5 also, the deponent of the affidavit

has mentioned that after the grant of stay by the High Court,

he intimated the development to his superior officers. Here

again, he has not specifically informed the court that he had

intimated to the Commissioner of Police. Like Mr. Nelson,

Deputy Commissioner of Police, he also informed the court

that on coming to know the discrepancy in the affidavit dated

24.05.2001 filed by the Inspector of Police for cancellation of

the bail, he was directed by the Commissioner of Police to

rectify the discrepancy immediately. Accordingly, Respondent

No. 2 filed the reply affidavit narrating all the facts on

29.05.2001.

21) The analysis of affidavits of the Inspector of Police,

Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Police

show that there is no acceptable material that the affidavit

containing wrong information filed by Respondent No. 2 for

cancellation of bail and stay of bail order was made at the

instance of the Commissioner of Police. We have already

pointed out that the appellant has assumed charge as the

Commissioner of Police only on 17.05.2001 i.e. after formation

22

of the new government. The violence in respect of election that

took place on 10.05.2001, particularly, the incident relating to

Respondent No. 1 was one week before his taking over charge

as Commissioner of Police. It is brought to our notice that at

the relevant time i.e. in 2001, the office of the Commissioner of

Police was headed by him and there were 4 Joint

Commisioners of Police, 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police,

64 Assistant Commissioners of Police besides 235 Inspectors

of Police including SHOs of 83 Police Stations, 6 out posts and

under whom there were 803 Sub-Inspectors of police and Spl.

Sub-Inspectors and 9665 Head Constables and Police

Constables. It is further brought to our notice that the City of

Chennai is divided into six districts and each one of them is

headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police of the rank of

Superintendent of Police. It is also clear that when the

information about mentioning wrong statement in the affidavit

filed by Respondent No. 2 against the grant of bail order was

brought to the notice of the appellant on 28.05.2001 by

Deputy Commissioner of Police, namely, Christopher Nelson,

the appellant herein immediately asked him to direct

23

Respondent No.2 to file proper affidavit before the High Court

and clarify the matter by placing proper facts. It is also clear

from the affidavit of the government counsel E. Raja that he

himself drafted the affidavit purely on the instructions of

Respondent No. 2 and that the appellant herein had no

personal knowledge nor did he instruct the counsel to prepare

affidavit or petition to move for cancellation of the bail. As

rightly pointed out by Mr. Ganguli, learned senior counsel for

the appellant, in the later part of the order dated 20.06.2001,

the then Division Bench ordered notice to the Commissioner of

Police (the appellant herein) seeking an explanation about the

serious allegations made by Respondent No. 1 in para 12 of

the contempt petition. Pursuant to the same, the appellant

filed counter affidavit setting out hierarchy of officials

functioning under the Commissioner of Police, Greater

Chennai City, the circumstances under which he was

informed about the incorrect affidavit filed by Respondent No.

2 in the case and the directions issued by him to correct the

mistake in the proceedings relating to the cancellation of bail

of Respondent No. 1. We have already pointed out that the

24

author of the affidavit, namely, Respondent No. 2 has not

stated that it was filed under the instructions of the appellant

herein, in fact, this fact was accepted by the Division Bench.

As a matter of fact, Respondent No. 2 has specifically denied

the allegation that the application for cancellation of bail was

moved under the direction, supervision and knowledge of the

appellant. The two officers, namely, Assistant Commissioner

of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police without

specifying the name of Commissioner of Police have merely

mentioned that they had consulted their "superior officers"

before filing the application for cancellation of bail.

22) Apart from specific information in the form of an affidavit

highlighting his stand before the Division Bench which dealt

with the contempt petition, the appellant had also tendered

unconditional apology which was not even referred to before

passing orders sentencing the appellant herein to

imprisonment. When a city like Chennai is managed by

several police officers from the level of police constable to the

Commissioner of Police, in the absence of specific reference

about consultation with the Commissioner of Police or

25

direction to the two officers, namely, Assistant Commissioner

of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police merely because

both of them attended the office of the Public Prosecutor for

preparation of an application for cancellation of bail based on

the affidavit of the Inspector of Police, it cannot be presumed

and concluded that the appellant was responsible for giving

incorrect information by Respondent No. 2 before the High

Court.

23) We have already pointed out that while dealing with

criminal contempt in terms of Section 2(c) of the Act, strict

procedures are to be adhered. In a series of decisions, this

Court has held that jurisdiction to initiate proceedings for

contempt as also the jurisdiction to punish for contempt are

discretionary with the court. Contempt generally and criminal

contempt certainly is a matter between the court and the

alleged contemnor. No one can compel or demand as of right

initiation of proceedings for contempt. The person filing an

application or petition before the court does not become a

complainant or petitioner in the proceedings. He is just an

informer or relator. His duty ends with the facts being

26

brought to the notice of the court. It is thereafter for the court

to act on such information or not. [Vide Om Prakash Jaiswal

vs. D.K. Mittal, (2000) 3 SCC 171] Further Section 15 of the

Act as well as the Madras High Court Contempt of Court Rules

insist that, particularly, for initiation of criminal contempt,

consent of the Advocate General is required. Any deviation

from the prescribed Rules should not be accepted or condoned

lightly and must be deemed to be fatal to the proceedings

taken to initiate action for contempt. In the present case, the

above provisions have not been strictly adhered to and even

the notice issued by the then Division Bench merely sought for

explanation from the appellant about the allegations made by

Respondent No. 1.

24) We have already noted that Rajendra Kumar, Inspector of

Police, (L&O), G-1, Vepery Police Station, Chennai-7 who made

an incorrect/false statement for cancellation of bail has been

rightly punished by the Division Bench of the High Court and

this Court affirmed the same by dismissing his special leave

petition.

27 25) In view of the above discussion and conclusion, the order

of the High Court convicting the appellant under Section 2(c)

of the Act and sentencing him under Section 12 to undergo

simple imprisonment for seven days is set aside. The appeal is

allowed.

.................................................J.

(P. SATHASIVAM)

...............................................J.

(H.L. GOKHALE)

NEW DELHI;

APRIL 15, 2011.

28