IMPORTANT POINT
In order to constitute contempt the order of the Court must be of such a nature which is capable of execution by the person charged in normal circumstances and it should not require any extra ordinary effort nor should be dependent either wholly or in part, upon any act or omission of a third party for its compliance.

Headnote:Constitution of India-Article 129 -Contempt of Courts Act-Section 2(b)-Civil Contempt-Non implementation of Scheme framed by Court for revival of an industrial unit-Government of India moved a proposal under which a private party NCFL was to take over unit of Ashok Paper Mills which never functioned properly-Scheme formulated by Government of India on 28.6.1996 approved by this Court on 8.7.1996-Under the Scheme NCFL had to pay a fixed consideration of Rs. 6 crores over a period of four years-NCFL defaulted in payment of amount -However, it was not to amount to contempt of Court-There being many factors contributing to non implementation of scheme-Charge of having committed contempt of Court by any of the respondents not established-Contempt petition liable to be dismissed.
Held : Section 2(b) of Contempt of Courts Act defines civil contempt and it means willful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a Court or willful breach of undertaking given to a Court. Willful means an act or omission which is done voluntarily and intentionally and with the specific intent to do something the law forbids or with the specific intent to fail to do something the law requires to be done, that is to say with bad purpose either to disobey or to disregard the law. It signifies a deliberate action done with evil intent or with a bad motive or purpose. Therefore, in order to constitute contempt the order of the Court must be of such a nature which is capable of execution by the person charged in normal circumstances. It should not require any extra ordinary effort nor should be dependent, either wholly or in part, upon any act or omission of a third party for its compliance. This has to be judged having regard to the facts and circumstances of each case. The facts mentioned above show that none of the respondents to the petition can be held to be directly responsible if the Scheme which had been formulated by Government of India on 28.6.1996 and had been approved by this Court by the order dated 8.7.1996 could not be implemented in letter and spirit as many factors have contributed to the same. The reasons given for non inclusion of Shri Umadhar Prasad Singh in signing of the agreement appear to be quite plausible. NCFL has undoubtedly not discharged its liability of making payment of its entire liability of Rs.6 crores. However it has come out with a case that some additional expenditure has been incurred in running the unit. It is not possible to get the complete financial picture only on the basis of the affidavits filed in the present petition. On the material on record, therefore, it is not possible to hold that the charge of having committed contempt of Court on account of alleged non-compliance of the orders passed by this Court on 8.7.1996, 1.5.1997 and 31.7.2000 has been established against any one of the respondents. (Para 17)

JUDGMENT

G.P. Mathur, J.-This petition under Article 129 of the Constitution has been filed by M/s Ashok Paper Kamgar Union through its President Shri Umadhar Prasad Singh for initiating contempt proceedings against the respondents for violation of orders passed by this court on 8.7.1996, 1.5.1997 and 31.7.2000 in Writ Petition No. 174 of 1991. Initially the respondents arrayed in the contempt petition were Shri Dharam Godha, Chairman, Nouveau Capital & Finance Ltd., Shri S. Jagadeesan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Deptt. of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India; and Shri G.S. Kang, Secretary, Department of Industry, Govt. of Bihar. Subsequently, Shri S.N. Khan, Chairman and Managing Director and Shri R.P. Chhabra, Chief General Manager, Rehabilitation Finance Department, Industrial Development Basic of India, were also impleaded as respondents.

2. Ashok Paper Mills was a joint sector company and its shares were held by Government of Bihar, Government of Assam and Industrial Development Bank of India (for short IDBI ). The company had two units; one in Darbhanga, Bihar and the other in Assam. The company became sick in the year 1988 and was referred to BIFR. A decision was taken on 15.11.1989 to bifurcate the two units and give the responsibility of administering/taking over die units to the concerned State Governments. The Assam unit was thus taken over by the Government of Assam in 1990. The Bihar unit was, however, not taken over by the Government of Bihar. The petitioner M/s Ashok Paper Kamgar Union then filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution in this Court praying that a direction be issued to the Government of Bihar to take over the unit. Initially, it was felt that an appropriate legislation was required to be issued and the State Government also indicated that it would issue an Ordinance. The writ petition remained pending for several years and different proposals were considered by this Court. Ultimately, in the year 1996, the Government of India moved a proposal under which a private party, namely Nouveau Capital & Finance Ltd. (for short NCFL ) was to take over the unit and a scheme for the said purpose was formulated on 28.6.1996, which was accepted by this Court on 8.7.1996. Since the main grievance of the petitioner is that the terms of the scheme have not been complied with by the respondents, it is necessary to reproduce the main provisions thereof, which are as under :

1.0 Take over of the Unit by M/s. Nouveau Capital and Finance Ltd. Nouveau Capital & Finance Ltd. will take over Ashok Paper Mills Bihar Unit at following terms and conditions.

1.1 NCFL will acquire the share holding of Government of Bihar, Government of Assam and Financial Institutions as per following terms:-

(a) Write down of capital by 90

(b) Payment of written down face value within a period of 12 months from the date of handing over the possession of the unit.

1.2 NCFL will pay a fixed consideration of Rs.6 crores and thereupon take over of the unit without any liability. This amount will be paid by NCFL in 16 quarterly installments of Rs.37.5 Lakh each on interest free basis. The first installment will be paid by NCFL before taking over the unit.

Except for payment of Rs.6 crores over a period of four years, no other liabilities, be it dues of secured creditors, unsecured creditors, dues to Government and its agencies would be assigned to the unit.

1.3 The fixed consideration of Rs.6 crores paid by NCFL would be utilized on pro rata basis to settle the dues of the secured creditors viz., Institutions and banks and the workers as per the directions of the Supreme Court. The view of the workers union and the Financial Institutions are given in Annexure-II.

1.4 The entire available work force will be absorbed by NCFL within a period of six months from the date of the take over of the unit. Prior to take over a tripartite agreement between workers union, government

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