Contempt of Courts Act, 1971

Subject: Polity

Context:

Supreme Court has held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets against Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Supreme Court.

Concept:

• Contempt of court, as a concept that seeks to protect judicial institutions from motivated attacks and unwarranted criticism, and as a legal mechanism to punish those who lower its authority.
• Article 129 of the Constitution conferred on the Supreme Court the power to punish contempt of itself.
• Article 215 conferred a corresponding power on the High Courts. The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, gives statutory backing to the idea.
• According to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, contempt of court can either be civil contempt or criminal contempt.
• Civil contempt means willful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or willful breach of an undertaking given to a court.
• On the other hand, criminal contempt means the publication of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which
  • scandalizes or lowers the authority of, any court; or
  • prejudices or interferes with the due course of any judicial proceeding; or
  • Interferes or obstruct the administration of justice in any other manner.
• A contempt of court may be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both, provided that the accused may be discharged or the punishment awarded may be remitted on apology being made to the satisfaction of the court.