JUDGMENT :

Anil R. Dave, J.

1. Being aggrieved by the judgment dated 22nd December, 1997 delivered by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in Criminal Writ Petition No.22 of 1994, Criminal Appeal No.181 of 1998 has been filed by Vilas V. Sanghai against the order of punishment imposed upon him under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) and Criminal Appeal No.210 of 1998 has been filed by the State of Maharashtra for setting aside the said judgment.

2. The facts giving rise to the present litigation in a nutshell are as under :

As two appeals have been filed against the same judgment, for narration of the facts, we have referred to the facts from Criminal Appeal No.181 of 1998, which has been filed by Vilas V. Sanghai, a Police Inspector, who was entrusted with investigation of a case filed against Respondent No.1, Sumermal Mishrimal Bafna, a Trustee of Bafna Charitable Trust. Respondent no.1, who is aged about 64 years and is having some heart ailment, claims to be a man with good reputation. A private complaint was filed against Respondent No.1 by Shri Umesh Karia to the effect that Respondent No.1 had committed an offence punisha