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Het Ram Beniwal & Ors. v. Raghuveer Singh & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 463 of 2006)Decided 21 Oct 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 463 of 2006
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice L. Nageswara Rao

Background

After a prominent trade union activist was murdered in December 2000 and some accused were granted anticipatory bail by the Rajasthan High Court, the appellants, political workers and two advocates belonging to a political party, addressed a public gathering and made statements (reported in a local newspaper) accusing the High Court and judiciary of corruption and bias in granting that bail. The Rajasthan High Court held them guilty of criminal contempt of court and sentenced each to two months' simple imprisonment plus a fine of Rs. 2,000.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that fair, good-faith criticism of judicial decisions is protected under the fundamental right to free speech (Article 19(1)(a)), and that contempt power should be used sparingly, not routinely, against such criticism. However, it held that the appellants' statements, alleging corruption and bias against named judges, went beyond legitimate criticism and transgressed all limits of decency and fairness, and that their later "apology" did not appear bona fide given the stand they continued to take. The Court therefore upheld the finding of contempt but, considering the passage of time since the 2001 statements and the overall circumstances, modified the sentence to remove the imprisonment and impose only the fine of Rs. 2,000 each; the connected appeal (No. 464 of 2006), arising from the same incident as reported in another newspaper, was disposed of on the same terms.

Lesson Learnt

Citizens and even political leaders have a right to criticise court decisions, but making unsubstantiated public allegations of corruption or bias against specific judges crosses into contempt of court, and a half-hearted, non-bona-fide apology will not avoid a contempt finding, even if it can help reduce the punishment.

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

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