( 1 ) SECTION 23 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), empowers the Supreme Court or, as the case may be, any High Court, to make Rules, not inconsistent with the provisions of the said Act, for any matter relating to its procedure and in terms thereof, our High Court in exercise of such powers and also in exercise of its powers under Article 215 of the Constitution of India, framed Rules regulating to procedure, in Contempt of Court matters itself or of a Court subordinate to it and those Rules (hereinafter referred to as the said Rules), came into force on and from 1st September, 1975, on incorporation under Notification No. 10171-G dated 2nd Aug. 1975 and the same was published in the issues of the Calcutta Gazette dated 18th September, 1975.

( 2 ) IN this appeal which was presented on 23rd June, 1988, against orders dated 1st June, 1987 and 21st June, 1988 as made by a learned Single Judge of this Court in an application filed by the Additional Collector of Central Excise and Customs, Shillong in C. O. No. 9996 (W) of 1987 (G. T. C. Industries Ltd. and Anr. v. The Principal Collector, Central Excise and Customs, Eastern Region and Collector of Central Excise and Customs, Shillong and Ors.) and the application for appropriate orders filed therein. We have got to consider the submissions as made on behalf of the parties appearing, to the import and effect of the said Rules and that is the reason why we have incorporated the earlier process in which the said Rules were framed and formulated.

( 3 ) M/s. G. T. C. Industries Ltd. and Golden Investment (Sikkim) Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the said Companies), of which the appellants herein, have claimed to be the officers and stationed in various parts of India, on or about 18th Nov. 1987, the said Companies filed and moved an exparte writ application, which was numbered as CO. No. 9996 (W) of 1987, challenging therein amongst others, the validity of the summons issued under Section 14 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the said 1944 Act), by the Additional Collector of Central Excise, Shillong. In fact, the necessary summons under Section 14 of the said 1944 Act, was issued to various officers of the said Companies. On the said application the learned Trial Judge was pleased to direct the petitioners before him to serve copies of the concerned application within a stipulated time and further directed the said proceeding to appear before him on 23rd Nov. , 1987, with a further directions that in the meantime, status quo as of that date should be maintained by the parties.

( 4 ) THEREAFTER, on 30th November 1987, the learned Trial Judge after hearing the parties appearing before him, gave directions for filing affidavits with further liberty to Respondents before him to proceed with the matter for interrogation, if any, to be made during the office hours, on service of necessary notice. By the said order the learned Trial Judge further directed the Respondents before him to dispose of the matter for releasing of the concerned seized goods in accordance with Rule 206 (3) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the said 1944 Rules) by 4th December 1987 and also to communicate the order as passed, to the writ petitioners, within a reasonable time. Apart from that the said learned Trial Judge also directed that in case, any security is demanded for releasing the concerned goods, the writ petitioners should deposit the same in cash.

( 5 ) THEN on 10th December 1987, the writ petitioners before the learned Trial Judge filed and moved an application for contempt against Shri Bhujangaswamy, Collector of Central Excise, Shillong and Principal Collector, Central Excise and Customs, Customs House, Calcutta, Shri R. Bhattacharjya, Additional Collector of Central Excise and Customs, Shillong and Shri Inder Singh, Assistant Collector of Customs and Central E