Power of contempt is not a sword to silence critics: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Holding that mercy indispensable stay an integral portion of judicial conscience and courts should instrumentality a wide attack erstwhile a contemnor accepts a mistake and apologises, Supreme Court connected Wednesday quashed a Bombay HC bid sentencing a pistillate to 1 week's imprisonment for a contemptuous connection connected the judiciary pertaining to stray dogs.Quashing the jailhouse word awarded to a erstwhile manager of a residential analyzable successful Navi Mumbai Seawoods Estates Ltd, a seat of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the HC should person accepted her apology. It said the statutory strategy recognises that erstwhile a contemnor expresses sincere remorse, adjacent if the apology is not unqualified successful form, the tribunal is competent to judge it and, wherever necessary, discharge the contemnor oregon remit the condemnation imposed."The powerfulness to punish needfully carries wrong it the concomitant powerfulness to forgive, wherever the idiosyncratic earlier the tribunal demonstrates genuine remorse and repentance for the enactment that has brought him to this position. Therefore, successful workout of contempt jurisdiction, courts indispensable stay conscious that this powerfulness is not a idiosyncratic armour for judges, nor a sword to soundlessness criticism. After all, it requires fortitude to admit contrition for one's lapse, and an adjacent greater virtuousness to widen forgiveness to the erring.

Mercy, therefore, indispensable stay an integral portion of the judicial conscience, to beryllium extended wherever the contemnor sincerely acknowledges his lapse and seeks to atone for it," SC said.Though the apex tribunal ca-me to the decision that the circular issued by her was contemptuous, it fto her disconnected aft noting that she promptly filed her reply successful HC successful which she explained the circumstances, expressed unconditional remorse for her behaviour and tendered an unqualified apology astatine the earliest opportunity. "The Explanation to Section 12 (of Contempt Act) further provides that an apology shall not beryllium rejected simply due to the fact that it is qualified oregon conditional, if offered bona fide. The strategy of Section 12(1) frankincense reflects a balance, i.e. portion the majesty of instrumentality indispensable beryllium preserved against attempts to malign the instauration and those discharging judicial functions, the proviso besides recognises quality fallibility. It is for this crushed that the proviso empowers the court, upon being satisfied of genuine remorse, to judge the apology and discharge the contemnor oregon remit the punishment awarded," the seat said.The HC had taken suo motu cognizance aft the circular was brought to its announcement and proceedings were initiated aft the residential nine told the tribunal it was not liable for it. The pistillate had told HC that she had made a sedate mistake successful issuing the circular, which was done upon intelligence unit exerted by residents. She further stated that she had besides resigned from the committee of directors of Seawoods."Therefore, successful our considered view, HC failed to workout its contempt jurisdiction with owed circumspection. Once the contemnor had, from the precise archetypal time of her quality successful the suo motu proceedings, expressed remorse and tendered an unconditional apology, HC was required to analyse whether specified apology satisfied the statutory parameters nether Section 12 of the Contempt Act. Thus, successful our opinion, successful the lack of immoderate worldly suggesting that the apology was lacking successful bona fides, HC ought to person considered remitting the condemnation successful accordance with law," it said.