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Mst. Kalli (D) Thr. LR. Amin Chand (D) Thr. LRs. & Ors. v. Chokla @ Chowkhram & Ors.

Contempt Petition (Civil) · 2021 INSC 913Decided 17 Dec 2021
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 1824 of 2017
Justice Dinesh Maheshwari · Justice Vikram Nath

Background

This was a contempt petition filed in connection with an earlier civil appeal (C.A. No. 5559/2017), alleging that the respondents had failed to comply with the Court's directions by not making "alternative arrangements" that had apparently been ordered or expected in that appeal. The underlying property/civil dispute between the parties is not detailed in this short order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held, after considering the overall circumstances, that no alternative arrangements had in fact been made, but that on the facts no case of contempt was made out against the respondents. The contempt petition was dismissed, along with all pending applications in it.

Lesson Learnt

A contempt petition does not succeed merely because a party believes a direction has not been fully complied with; the Court must be satisfied that there is a genuine, willful disobedience amounting to contempt, which was not established here.

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

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