IMPORTANT POINT
A Judge, who can notice whether an act amounted to contempt of the Court can also initiate suo moto contempt proceeding.
Ingredients of civil contempt restated.

JUDGMENT

Gyan Sudha Misra, J. —

Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave has been filed against an interim order dated 08.12.2006 passed by the Jaipur Bench of the High Court of Rajasthan in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1072 of 2001 whereby the learned single Judge initiated suo moto contempt proceeding against the appellant and directed issuance of notice to him after which a separate Contempt Petition was ordered to be registered against him. This initiation apparently was based on the assumption and impression gathered by the learned single Judge to the effect that the appellant had obstructed the course of administration of justice by ensuring that the interim order of stay dated 22.03.2001 passed by the learned single Judge against implementation of the award of compensation as also direction to the Registrar General (Vigilance) to initiate inquiry against the then Judge of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Jaipur, be not implemented. The learned Judge further inferred that this was an attempt on the part of the appellant herein to shield the Judge of the MACT from facing the vigilance inquiry and hence contempt proceeding has been initiated against the appellant.

3. As the appellant was not a party in the writ petition in the High Court in which contempt proceeding has been initiated, he sought leave of this Court to file Special Leave Petition which was granted and an order of stay against initiation of contempt proceeding was also passed by this Court on 19.01.2007.

4. The matter thereafter was heard finally at the admission stage itself with consent of the counsel for the parties. At the outset, the appellant assailed the impugned order on the plea that he had joined as Deputy Registrar (Judicial) in the Jaipur Bench of the High Court of Rajasthan only on 05.01.2005 and the order which is alleged to have been not implemented at the instance of the appellant, is dated 22.03.2001 from which it is clearly established that the initiation of contempt proceeding alleging non-implementation of the order dated 22.03.2001 on the face of it, was not justified at all since the communication by him to the Registrar (Vigilance) for ascertaining the number of the case as also the date of the order sheet - a copy of which was to be sent to the Registrar (Vigilance), was the normal requirement without which the order sheet could not have been sent and hence the same would not amount to contempt of Court.

5. The substantial question of law therefore which emerges for determination in this appeal is whether the learned single Judge of the High Court was justified in initiating suo moto contempt proceeding against the appellant judicial officer in absence of even prima facie material to the effect that there was at all a case of disobedience to the order of the High Court - much less wilful disobedience and whether issuance of notice to initiate contempt proceeding would be justified merely on assumption, speculation and inference drawn from facts without existence of a clear case of wilful disobedience to the order of the High Court so as to treat it as a case of contempt of Court of civil nature.

6. The details of facts and circumstances of the matter in so far as it is essential for adjudicating the substantial question of law formulated hereinbefore are stated herein as follows:

(i) A writ petition bearing S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1072 of 2001 was filed by an Insurance Company, namely, United India Insurance Company Limited challenging the award passed by the MACT, Jaipur in favour of the claimant Smt. Kaushalya Devi and others. The writ petition came up for hearing before a learned single Judge on 22.3.2001 who was pleased to admit the writ petition and issued notice to the original claimants and other respondents therein. Simultaneously, an order of stay was also passed in favour of the Petitioner-Insurance Company, directing that there shall be stay of recovery against the award dated 15.01.2001 by which compensation