Devansh Kulshreshtha, NMIMS, Navi Mumbai
Avantika Singh, NMIMS, Navi Mumbai
GENESIS OF THE LAW OF CONTEMPT
Contempt refers to the offence of dismissal and disrespect of the authority and dignity of the top courts , as mentioned under the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 as well as under article 129 of the Constitution of India .1 This is a special privilege in the hands of judges , which acts as an exception to the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression2 and is practised to safeguard the court from getting scandalised or subject to any actions which hinder or obstruct the administration of justice. As per the act, contempt is of two kinds, civil and criminal. There are three main elements of Criminal contempt
1. Scandalise or tends to scandalise the court 2. Prejudices or tends to interfere with Judicial proceeding
3. Obstructs administration of justice.
The idea of contempt dates back to the concept “Order is heavens. First law”4 - The belief that divine law is passed down to earth and is the law of nature. This law is then bestowed in the hands of the king, who was considered a reincarnation of god himself and hence his word was law. The underlying principles being theory or origin and social contract. The Judiciary was seen as the medium through which it could enforce adherence to the rulings of the king and at the same time maintaining law and order in society. In India, contempt of court was introduced in the colonial era, in order to suppress the people that were being exploited at the hands of the court.
At present, the law of contempt is considered archaic in most countries. In countries such as Uk, Canada and the USA, the law either does not exist or is followed with an extremely liberal approach. This is done so as it is felt that criminalizing the criticism of the Judiciary goes against the very ideology behind Democracy.
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