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Ajayinder Sangwan & Ors. v. K.K. Mohan

Contempt Petition (Civil) · 2018 INSC 98Decided 5 Feb 2018
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 565 of 2018
Justice R.K. Agrawal · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

The petitioners filed a contempt petition alleging willful disobedience of the Supreme Court's earlier orders (dated 14.12.2017, 23.08.2017 and 24.11.2017) passed in a transferred civil case concerning elections to State Bar Councils. The Bar Council of India (BCI) had filed an application on 23.01.2018 stating it had finalized the election schedule for the respective State Bar Councils.

Decision Breakdown

The Court examined the BCI's application and found that the election schedule finalized by the BCI was just and proper, meaning the BCI had in fact complied with the Court's earlier directions. Since the Court was satisfied that the BCI had acted appropriately and no willful disobedience was shown, it held that no case was made out to initiate contempt proceedings against the BCI. The contempt petition was accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A contempt petition fails where the alleged contemnor has in fact substantially complied with the Court's directions: contempt requires willful disobedience, not mere disagreement over how an order was implemented.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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