Kolkata: Observing that the one-year limitation under Section 20 of 1971 Act does not apply to suo motu proceedings initiated by High Court (HC), Calcutta High Court issued a contempt rule against seven persons in a criminal contempt matter where police personnel entered a Howrah Sadar court and allegedly caused damage and disruption of judicial work in 2019.
The bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Arindam Mukherjee was addressing several contempt applications, among which the application filed by the Howrah Bar Association was primarily considered. The case originated from reports submitted by the Commissioner of Police, Howrah, the District Judge, Howrah and the CJM, Howrah, highlighting incidents on April 24, 2019. These reports, forwarded with remarks of the state’s chief secretary, prompted the Chief Justice of the High Court to register a suo motu writ petition. The court appointed a judge as a one-member judicial enquiry commissioner to probe the matter. The report found police officials’ actions interfered with judicial proceedings, amounting to potential criminal contempt.
The respondents in the case argued that Section 20 of the 1971 Act bars contempt proceedings initiated after one year from the date of incident, rendering the proceedings time barred. They also argued that the High Court cannot take cognizance of criminal contempt of a subordinate court without reference from subordinate court or a motion by the Advocate General (AG).
The court observed that the one-year limitation under Section 20 of 1971 Act does not apply to suo motu proceedings initiated by the High Court, particularly when the court acted promptly and appointed enquiry commissioner.
Further, the court also clarified that the inherent power of the High Court under Article 215 empowers it to take cognisance of criminal contempt suo motu, even without a subordinate court reference or AG’s motion. The court considered the prima facie evidence in the Enquiry Commission report as sufficient to initiate contempt proceedings.