SANKARASUBBAN, J.

Petitioner in this contempt case, R. Balakrishna Pillai, is a former Minister and is a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He is an accused in C.C. No. 2/1989 on the file of the Court of Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Vigilance, Thiruvananthapuram. First respondent was the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram. Second respondent is the Printer and Publisher of Desabhimani Newspaper. Third respondent is the General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala State Committee and the General Manager of P. Krishna Pillai Memorial Printing and Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., Thiruvananthapuram. Fourth respondent is V. S. Achuthanandan, Chief Editor, Desabhimani Newspaper, Thiruvananthapuram and the fifth respondent C. Rajendran is the Photographer attached to the Desabhimani Newspaper.

2. In addition to the petitioner, there are two other accused in C.C. No. 2/1989. On 20-3-2000, the case was posted for framing charges against the accused persons. Petitioner was present. The charges were read over to all the three accused persons including the petitioner. The newspapers, especially the local papers reported the proce