Contempt jurisdiction cannot modify original orders; it is limited to assessing willful non-compliance.

JUDGMENT :

Prasenjit Biswas, J.

1. The appellant before this Court is aggrieved by an order dated 25th November, 2022 passed by the learned Single Bench of this Court in CPAN No. 1038 of 2022 arising out of WPA No. 5708 of 2022.

2. The appellant filed a contempt petition alleging that the respondents (herein) had not honored the direction passed by the learned Single Bench in WPA No. 5708 of 2022. The said application for contempt was disposed of by the learned Single Bench by passing the impugned order.

3. The only point involved in the present appeal is whether the learned Single Bench in exercising of the contempt jurisdiction can pass an order which runs counter to the spirit of the original order for which the allegation of the violation was pleaded in the contempt application.

4. The learned Single Bench in its order dated 19.07.2022 in WPA No. 5708 of 2022 directed the respondents to process the transfer application of this appellant afresh and forward the same to the District Inspector of Schools. The direction was also given upon the respondents including the District Inspector of Schools to follow the notification dated 21st December, 2021 and the time frame as stipulated therein whereby the District Inspector of Schools have been mandated to reject or forward to the transfer application to the commission within two weeks from the date of the receiving of the same. The relevant portion of the order passed in the writ petition by learned Single Bench is quoted as under:

“The single teacher bar is no longer applicable in view of the amendment and clarification to the 2015 Rules, inter alia, on 3rd January, 2022.

The petitioner’s application for transfer shall be processed afresh and forwarded by the Head of the Department to the District Inspector of Schools within a period of two weeks from the date of communication of a copy of this order.

The Notification dated 21st December, 2021 and the time frame stipulated therein shall be strictly followed by the respondents.

The earlier rejection of transfer shall stand set aside.

With the aforesaid direction, the instant writ petition shall stand disposed of.”

5. This appellant/petitioner took out an application for contempt being CPAN No. 1038 of 2022 by stating that the alleged contemnors have deliberately violated the direction as passed by the Hon’ble Single Bench and not complied with the said direction and as such action on the part of the alleged contemnors are contemptuous and apparent indication of willful violation of the direction passed by the learned Single Bench in WPA No. 5708 of 2022. The said contempt application filed by the appellant/petitioner was disposed of by the learned Single Bench by passing the impugned order on 25.11.2022 by observing interalia that-

“It is submitted that three schools have been approached to accommodate the petitioner. One school has refused accommodation. The other two schools are yet to respond.

The D.I. of Schools shall continue to make serious efforts to find a replacement for the petitioner in the school in question.

It is hoped that the disposal of the contempt application shall not, in any way, reduce the inertia of the D.I. of Schools.”

6. In the original order passed in WPA No. 5708 of 2022 dated 19.07.2022 the learned Single Bench held and observed that the ‘bar’ or ‘restriction’ of being a single teacher in a school is not applicable in the instant case of the appellant in view of amendment and clarification of the Transfer Rules of 2015 interalia dated 3rd January, 2022. A direction was given upon the respondents to process the transfer application of the appellant afresh within time frame as stipulated in the Rules. The learned Single Bench while disposing of the contempt application filed by the appellant/petitioner travelled beyond the four corners original order as passed in the writ petition and modified his earlier observation and held that the District Inspector of Schools shall continue to make serious efforts to find a rep