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IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 1 of 6

Vs.

RESPONDENT:
BHAJAN LAL

DATE OF JUDGMENT04/05/1988

BENCH:
DUTT, M.M. (J)
BENCH:
DUTT, M.M. (J)
PATHAK, R.S. (CJ)
KANIA, M.H.

CITATION:
1988 SCR (3) 888 1988 SCC (3) 26
JT 1988 (2) 499 1988 SCALE (1)924

ACT:
Contempt of Courts Act, 1971-Section 19(1)-
Interpretation of-When can High Court be said to exercise
its jurisdiction to punish for its contempt-High Court
exercises this jurisdiction only when it imposes punishment
for contempt-If no punishment is imposed on contemnor, no
jurisdiction to punish for contempt is exercised.
Contempt of Courts Act, 1971-Section 19(1)-
Interpretation of-The right of appeal is only of the
contemnor and not of the person who alleges that the
contemnor had committed contempt of the Court-Remedy of the
person alleging contempt lies under Article 136 of the
Constitution.
Rule of Interpretation-Right of appeal is a creature of
statute and should be considered on interpretation of
provisions of the statute and not on the ground of propriety
or any other consideration.

HEADNOTE:
The appellant filed an application for contempt against
the respondent in the High Court complaining of interference
by the respondent with the due course of judicial
proceedings. A Single Judge of the High Court after
considering the application, affidavits and submissions made
on behalf of the parties took the view that it was not a fit
case in which the court should exercise its jurisdiction
under the contempt of Courts Act and dismissed the
application. The appellant filed the instant appeal under
section 19(1) of the Act. The respondent took a preliminary
objection to the maintainability of the appeal under section
19(1). While upholding the objection and dismissing the
Appeal, this Court,
^
HELD: The High Court derives its jurisdiction to punish
for contempt from Article 215 of the Constitution. The
appeal will lie under Section 19(1) of the Act only when the
High Court makes an order or decision in exercise of its
jurisdiction to punish for contempt. The High Court
exercises its jurisdiction or power as conferred on it by
Article 215 of the Constitution when it imposes a punishment
for contempt. When the High Court does not impose any
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punishment on the alleged
889
contemnor the High court does not exercise its jurisdiction
or power to punish for contempt. The jurisdiction of the
High Court is to punish. When no punishment is imposed by
the High Court, it is difficult to say that the High Court
has exercised its jurisdiction or power as conferred on it
by Article 215 of the Constitution. [892C-E]
Whenever a court, tribunal or authority is vested with
a jurisdiction to decide a matter, such jurisdiction can be
exercised in deciding the matter in favour or against a
person. For example, a civil court is conferred with the
jurisdiction to decide a suit; the civil court will have
undoubtedly the jurisdiction to decree the suit or dismiss
the same. But when a court is conferred with the power or
jurisdiction to act in a particular manner, the exercise of
jurisdiction or the power will involve the acting in that
particular manner and in no other. Article 215 confers
jurisdiction or power on the High court to punish for
contempt. The High Court can exercise its jurisdiction only
by punishing for contempt.[893F-G]
The contention of the appellant that there would be no
remedy against the erroneous or perverse decision of the
High Court in not exercising its jurisdiction to punish for
contempt, is not correct. When the High Court erroneously
acquits a contemnor guilty of criminal contempt, the
petitioner who is interested in maintaining the dignity of
the Court will not be without any remedy. Even though no
appeal is maintainable under section 19(1) of the Act, the
petitioner in such a case can move this Court under Article
136 of the Constitution. [894B-C]
Right of appeal is a creature of the statute and the
question whether there is a right of appeal or not will have
to be considered on an interpretation of the provision of
the statute and not on the ground of propriety or any other
consideration. [894D-E]
A contempt is a matter between the court and the
alleged contemnor. Any person who moves the machinery of the
court for contempt only brings to the notice of the court
certain facts constituting contempt of court. After
furnishing such information he may still assist the court,
but the aggrieved party under section 19(1) can only be the
contemnor who has been punished for contempt of court.
[894E-G]
Smt. Ujjam Bai v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [1963] 1
S.C.R. 778 and Paradakanta Mishra v. Mr. Justice Gatikrushna
Mishra, [1975]1 S.C.R. 524, referred to.
890

JUDGMENT:
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 79
of 1984.
From the Judgment and Order dated 5.10.1983 of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal Original Contempt
Petition No. 27 of 1983.
R.K. Garg, Mahabir Singh and S.Srinivasan for the
Appellant.
Kapil Sibal, R.N. Karanjawala, Mrs. M.Karanjawala,and
Ejaz Maqbool for theRespondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DUTT, J. This appeal under section 19(1) of the
Contempt of Courts Act, hereinafter referred to as ’the
Act’, is directed against the judgment and order of the
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Punjab & Haryana High Court dismissing the application for
contempt filed by the appellant against Shri Bhajan Lal, who
was then the Chief Minister of the State.
In the application for contempt, it was, inter alia,
alleged by the appellant that one Shri Devinder Sharma was a
Forest Minister in the Council of Ministers headed by Shri
Bhajan Lal. The said Devinder Sharma was defeated in the
legislative assembly election held in 1982. Shri Bhajan Lal,
because of his political and personal relations with Shri
Devinder Sharma, was personally very keen on giving him an
office of profit. In order to achieve this objective, Bhajan
Lal got an Ordinance being Ordinance No. 44 of 1982
promulgated by the Governor. The Ordinance, inter alia,
provided the constitution of a Forest Development Board.
According to the appellant, such Board was constituted with
a view to appointing the said Devinder Sharma as its
Chairman.
It was further alleged by the appellant that the
constitutional validity of the said Ordinance was challenged
by twelve Indian Forest Officers including the appellant by
filing a writ petition in the High Court. It was alleged
that the respondent, Bhajan Lal, through Shri R.K. Vashisth,
the Superintendent of Police, pressurised and threatened the
writ petitioners to withdraw the said writ petition and,
pursuant to that, eleven officers withdrew from the
petition. It was only the appellant who continued to
prosecute the writ petition and, as a consequence of which,
the appellant was transferred from the Forest Expert Special
Project Cell to the Forest Department, Haryana, on
891
March 18, 1983. The further allegation of the appellant was
that after having failed to threaten and demoralise the
appellant through indirect means the respondent, Bhajan Lal,
called him to his official residence on July 26, 1983
through the Acting Chief Conservator of Forests and
criminally intimidated him to withdraw the writ petition.
Thereafter, the appellant filed an application for
contempt against the respondent, Bhajan Lal, in the High
Court complaining of interference by the respondent with the
due course of judicial proceedings. The application was
admitted and a rule nisi was issued upon the respondent. The
respondent appeared in the rule and opposed the same by
filing an affidavit denying all the allegations made against
him by the appellant.
The learned Single Judge of the High Court, after
considering the application, affidavits and the submissions
made on behalf of the parties, took the view that there were
circumstances to indicate that it was not a fit case in
which the court should exercise its jurisdiction under the
Act. In that view of the matter, the learned Judge dismissed
the application and discharged the rule nisi.
It is apparent from the facts stated above that the
allegations made by the appellant, if proved would consitute
a criminal contempt. It is also not disputed by the parties
that it was a case of criminal contempt as defined in
section 2(c) of the Act. The scope and ambit of this
judgment will, therefore, be confined to criminal contempt.
Mr. Sibbal, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the
respondent, has taken a preliminary objection to the
maintainability of the appeal under section 19(1) of the
Act. It is contended by him that as no punishment was
imposed on the respondent by the High Court in exercise of
its jurisdiction to punish for contempt, section 19(1) is
inapplicable and the appeal is incompetent. Section 19(1)
provides as follows:
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"19(1). An appeal shall lie as of right from
any order or decision of a High Court in the
exercise of its jurisdiction to punish for
contempt-
(a) where the order or decision is that of a
single judge, to a Bench of not less
than two Judges of the Court;
892
(b) where the order or decision is that of a
Bench, to the Supreme Court.
Provided that where the order or decision is
that of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner in
any Union territory, such appeal shall lie to the
Supreme Court."
The right of appeal will be available under sub-section
(1) of section 19 only against any decision or order of a
High Court passed in the exercise of its jurisdiction to
punish for contempt. In this connection, it is pertinent to
refer to the provision of Article 215 of the Constitution
which provides that every High Court shall be a court of
record and shall have all the powers of such a court
including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
Article 215 confers on the High Court the power to punish
for contempt of itself. In other words, the High Court
derives its jurisdiction to punish for contempt from Article
215 of the Constitution. As has been noticed earlier, an
appeal will lie under section 19(1) of the Act only when the
High Court makes an order or decision in exercise of its
jurisdiction to punish for contempt. It is submitted on
behalf of the respondent and, in our opinion rightly, that
the High Court exercises its jurisdiction or power as
conferred on it by Article 215 of the Constitution when it
imposes a punishment for contempt. When the High Court does
not impose any punishment on the alleged contemnor, the High
Court does not exercise its jurisdiction or power to punish
for contempt. The jurisdiction of the High Court is to
punish. When no punishment is imposed by the High Court, it
is difficult to say that the High Court has exercised its
jurisdiction or power as conferred on it by Article 215 of
the Constitution.
It is, however, strenuously urged by Mr. R.K. Garg,
learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, that
when the High Court acquits a contemnor after hearing the
parties and after considering the facts and circumstances of
the case, the High Court does so also in the exercise of its
jurisdiction as conferred by Article 215 of the
Constitution. Counsel submits that jurisdiction to punish
for contempt includes also the jurisdiction to dispose of
the case either by punishing the contemnor or by acquitting
him. In support of the contention much reliance has been
placed on behalf of the appellant on a decision of this
Court in Smt. Ujjam Bai v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [1963] 1
SCR 778 wherein S.K. Das, J. observed "jurisdiction means
authority to decide." Relying upon the said observation it
is submitted by Mr. Garg that the jurisdiction of the High
Court to punish for contempt also includes the jurisdiction
to decide whether such punishment
893
should be imposed or not and when the High Court comes to
the finding that such punishment should not be imposed on
the contemnor or that no contempt has been committed by the
alleged contemnor and acquits him, such decision of the High
Court acquitting the contemnor is made in the exercise of
its jurisdiction to punish for contempt. We are unable to
accept this contention. The said observation, in our
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opinion, should not be read dehors the context in which it
was made. In that case, the Sales Tax Officer disallowed the
claim of the petitioner to exemption from payment of Sales
Tax under a certain notification. An appeal preferred by the
petitioner to the Court of the Judge (Appeals), Sales Tax,
Allahabad, was dismissed. The question that came up for
consideration before this Court was whether a writ of
certiorari could be issued for quashing the order of
Assessment on the ground that the authority concerned had
erroneously exercised its jurisdiction by not granting
exemption to the petitioner. In that context the said
observations was made and which was immediately followed by
further observation:
"Whenever a judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal is
empowered or required to enquire into a question
of law or fact for the purpose of giving a
decision on it, its findings thereon cannot be
impeached collaterally or on an application for
certiorari but are binding until reversed on
appeal. Where a quasi-judicial authority has
jurisdiction to decide a matter, it does not lose
its jurisdiction by coming to a wrong conclusion
whether it is wrong in law or in fact."
There can be no doubt that whenever a court, tribunal
or authority is vested with a jurisdiction to decide a
matter, such jurisdiction can be exercised in deciding the
matter in favour or against a person. For example, a civil
court is conferred with the jurisdiction to decide a suit;
the civil court will have undoubtedly the jurisdiction to
decree the suit or dismiss the same. But when a court is
conferred with the power or jurisdiction to act in a
particular manner, the exercise of jurisdiction or the power
will involve the acting in that particular manner and in no
other. Article 215 confers jurisdiction or power on the High
Court to punish for contempt. The High Court can exercise
its jurisdiction only by punishing for contempt. It is true
that in considering a question whether the alleged contemnor
is guilty of contempt or not, the court hears the parties
and considers the materials produced before it and, if
necessary, examines witnesses and, thereafter, passes an
order either acquitting or punishing him for contempt. When
the High Court acquits the contemnor, the High Court does
not exercise its jurisdic-
894
tion for contempt, for such exercise will mean that the High
Court should act in a particular manner, that is to say, by
imposing punishment for contempt. So long as no punishment
is imposed by the High Court, the High Court cannot be said
to be exercising its jurisdiction or power to punish for
contempt under Article 215 of the Constitution.
It does not, however, mean that when the High Court
erroneously acquits a contemnor guilty of criminal contempt,
the petitioner who is interested in maintaining the dignity
of the court will not be without any remedy. Even though no
appeal is maintainable under section 19(1) of the Act, the
petitioner in such a case can move this Court under Article
136 of the Constitution. Therefore, the contention, as
advanced on behalf of the appellant, that there would be no
remedy against the erroneous or perverse decision of the
High Court in not exercising its jurisdiction to punish for
contempt, is not correct. But, in such a case there would be
no right of appeal under section 19(1), as there is no
exercise of jurisdiction or power by the High Court to
punish for contempt. The view which we take finds support
from a decision of this Court in Paradakanta Mishra v. Mr.
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Justice Gatikrushna Mishra, [1975] 1 SCR 524.
Right of appeal is a creature of the statute and the
question whether there is a right of appeal or not will have
to be considered on an interpretation of the provision of
the statute and not on the ground of porpriety or any other
consideration. In this connection, it may be noticed that
there was no right of appeal under the Contempt of Courts
Act, 1952. It is for the first time that under section 19(1)
of the Act, a right of appeal has been provided for. A
contempt is a matter between the court and the alleged
contemnor. Any person who moves the machinery of the court
for contempt only brings to the notice of the court certain
facts constituting contempt of court. After furnishing such
information he may still assist the court, but it must
always be borne in mind that in a contempt proceeding there
are only two parties, namely, the court and the contemnor.
It may be one of the reasons which weighed with the
Legislature in not conferring any right of appeal on the
petitioner for contempt. The aggrieved party under section
19(1) can only be the contemnor who has been punished for
contempt of court.
For the reasons aforesaid, there is substance in the
preliminary objection raised as to the maintainability of
the appeal. In our view the appeal is incompetent and is,
accordingly, dismissed. There will, however, be no order as
to costs.
H.S.K. Appeal dismissed.
895