Orissa High Court: The division bench comprising of S. Talapatra and S.K. Panigrahi, JJ. directed for the issue of notice to the President of Tangi Bar Association, seeking reply on framing of criminal contempt charges against him for abusing and threatening the Judicial Magistrate and interfering with the due course of judicial proceedings.
In the current case, the opposite party abused the Judicial Magistrate and used “filthy language” from outside her chambers and later in the day, accompanied by some non-practitioner advocates of the Tangi Bar Association and outsiders comprising of 60 to 70 people obstructed her way to her residence, outside the Court building, but inside the Court premises and threatened her by saying “how dare you reject the bail petition”.
The opposite party questioned her experience and threatened to boycott her in Court. As a part of her professional duty, the Judicial Magistrate immediately informed the Registrar of the District Court of this incident. Further, informing of an incident, two months prior to this incident in the letter, she was informed by the watchman that the Bar President was hitting the main door of the Court building in a drunk state and abused her and her staff in highly un-parliamentary and obscene language. The Judicial Magistrate also informed that the opposite party had time and again threatened her and called for a boycott of the Court, whenever an order had been passed against their interest, which created an unhealthy atmosphere in the Court.
The Court remarked that it was taken aback by the behavior of an office bearer of the Bar Association with a Judicial Magistrate discharging her judicial duties and held that the act of the opposite party comes within the meaning of ‘criminal contempt’ as defined under Section 2(C) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 as the conduct of the opposite party has scandalized the Judicial Magistrate and interfered with the due course of judicial proceedings. Further, it has obstructed the process of administration of justice and therefore, the Court took cognizance under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
Hence, the Court issued of contempt notice to the President of Tangi Bar Association, seeking reply on framing of criminal contempt charges against him.
[Registrar v. Nakul Kumar Nayak, 2022 SCC OnLine Ori 3826, decided on 01-11-2022]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner: Advocate General Ashok Kumar Parija;
Government Advocate Jyoti Prakash Patnaik;
For Contemnor: Advocate Nakul Kumar Nayak.