Did you Know not obeying a Court order can land you in jail?

The Madras High Court has held the Church of South India Madras Diocese Bishop and two pastors guilty of contempt of court for not following its order. The High Court sentenced them to imprisonment for three months with a fine of Rupees 1,500 each.

Contempt of court simply means disrespecting the court in any way. In India, anyone can be punished by the court if they disrespect the court or show contempt towards courts.

What are the types of contempt of court?

There are two types of contempt of court: Civil contempt and Criminal contempt.

Civil contempt:

If someone deliberately disobeys any judgment, direction, order, or other process of the court, then they are disrespecting the court and this is civil contempt. Also, if someone purposely violates an undertaking (breaks an agreement or a promise) that they have given to the court, it is civil contempt of court.

Criminal contempt:

Criminal contempt of court happens when a person disrespects the court by publishing anything, attempting to or doing something that: 

• Scandalizes or lowers the authority of any court 
• Influences or interferes with any judicial proceeding (like a legal case being heard by the court) 
• Obstructs the judicial process in any other way

What is not considered as contempt of court?

People can publish fair and accurate reports of court proceedings related to any pending legal case, unless this has been prohibited by the court. Publishing a fair analysis of any final judgement given by the court after deciding a case is also permitted.

What is the punishment for contempt of court? 

If someone disrespects the court through civil or criminal contempt of court, the punishment is jail time for up to six months and/or a fine up to Rupees 2,000. The punishment may be cancelled if the person apologises to the court and the court is satisfied with the apology.

Doesn’t the concept of contempt of court restrict the freedom of speech?

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court delivered a judgement discussing contempt of court in a case against lawyer Prashant Bhushan. In the judgement, the Court said that a citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) of our Constitution. So, a citizen is allowed to make a fair criticism of a judge, judiciary and its functioning. If a constructive criticism is made in order to enable systemic correction in the system, the Court will not look into the issue of contempt.

However, the right to speech has certain reasonable restrictions, and the law has to try to properly balance the right and the restrictions. The Court held that if a citizen exceeds the limits and makes a statement which tends to scandalize the judges and institution of administration of justice, such an action could be considered as contempt of court.

Further, the Court said that if a citizen makes a statement which tends to undermine the dignity and authority of the Court, or a statement which tends to shake the public confidence in the judicial institutions, this will come within the scope of ‘criminal contempt’.

When a statement is made against a judge as an individual, contempt of court will not apply. However, when the statement is made against a judge as a ‘judge’, which has an adverse effect in the administration of justice, the Court can look into the issue of contempt of court.