The High Court has the jurisdiction to take cognizance of contempt proceedings even if the acts alleged to constitute contempt are punishable as an offense under the Indian Penal Code, unless the acts are punishable as contempt under Chapter X of the Code.

( 1 ) THIS Rule was issued on the opposite parties to show cause why they should not be proceeded against for contempt of the Ct. of the Addl. Chief Presidency Mag. of Calcutta for having printed and published certain leaflets containing remarks as regards the merits of a case pending in the Mag. 's Ct.

( 2 ) THE leaflets have been produced before us and quite clearly they contain a remark that the complaint filed by the petnr. in the Mag's. Ct. at Calcutta is false. On behalf of the opposite parties a point has been raised that as proceedings have already been instituted by one Biswanath Agarwalla Under Section 500, 501 and 109, I. P. C. with regard to the publication of the very leaflets which form the subject-matter of the present contempt proceedings, these proceedings for contempt do not lie before this Ct. in view of the provisions of Sub-section (3) of Section 2, Contempt of Courts Act. The sub-section is in these words :"no H. C. shall take cognizance of a contempt alleged to have been committed in respect of a Ct. subordinate to it where such contempt is an offence punishable under the I. P. C. " it is important to mark the words "such contempt. "

( 3 ) IT was contended on behalf of the opposite parties that if by the act by which a party is said to have committed Contempt of a subordinate Ct. an offence punishable under the I. P. C. is committed, then the H. C. shall not take cognizance of the alleged contempt. In our judgment this is not the proper interpretation to put on the words used in the sub-section. As we have already stated it is necessary to note carefully that this sub-section does not say that the H. C. shall not take cognizance of a contempt alleged to have been committed where the acts alleged to have constituted the contempt amounted to an offence punishable under the I. P. C. Instead of saying that, it says that the H. C. shall not take cognizance of a contempt alleged to have been committed in respect of a Ct. subordinate to it where such contempt is an offence punishable under the I. P. C. To read into this sub-section the sense which Mr. Mukherjee appearing for the opposite party has contended for, is to read into it something which the Legislature has not said. In our judgment the only possible interpretation of the sub-section is that where the acts alleged to have constituted the contempt are punishable as contempt under the I. P. C. , then only the H. C. shall not take cognizance of that contempt under the Contempt of Courts Act.

( 4 ) IT is interesting to see that when this question was raised in the case of Dharanidhar Singha v. Satish Chandra, 36 C. W. N. 645 : (A. I. R. (19) 1932 Cal. 705 : 33 Cr. L. J. 945), their Lordships while not deciding the point, as it was unnecessary in the circumstances of the particular case, did say that there was considerable force in the argument that it is only contempts punishable as such under Chap. X of the Code (e. g. , an offence punishable Under Section 173, I. P. C.) that are excluded from the purview of the Contempt of Courts Act. Our attention has been drawn to certain observations of Sanderson C. J. in the case of V. M. Bason v. A. H. Skone, 53 Cal. 401 : (A. I. R. (13) 1926 Cal. 701 ). It was argued in that case there that"even if the action of the applt. did constitute contempt of Ct. , the learned Judge ought not to have invoked the jurisdiction, which is inherent in this Ct. , and should not have called upon the applt. to show cause why he should not be committed for contempt, first, because the matter was one which could have been investigated fully and dealt with adequately in a Mag's. Ct. in Calcutta, and secondly, because there was no necessity for the matter being Immediately dealt with, because, in fact, the notice had been served and the proceedings in execution would go on. "sanderson C. J. after mentioning this argument in his judgment proceeded to say this :"i think there is considerable weight in that arg