Summary
By a judgment of 10.03.2022 the Supreme Court had held the respondents, particularly Dharmesh S. Jain, guilty of contempt for wilful disobedience of its order of 28.10.2021 and of the Bombay High Court's order of 08.08.2019 in a commercial arbitration matter, reserving the question of sentence. Sentencing was deferred at the contemnors' request to allow them either to comply with the orders or to settle with the petitioner fund; their counsel later stated that no final settlement had been reached. Since neither compliance nor settlement followed despite sufficient opportunities, the Court sentenced the first respondent to seven days' simple imprisonment and fined both respondents Rs. 5,00,000, keeping the sentence in abeyance for two weeks as one last opportunity to purge the contempt.
Issues
- What sentence should be imposed on contemnors found guilty of wilful disobedience of orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court who, despite repeated opportunities, have neither complied with those orders nor settled the dispute with the petitioner.
Provisions considered
- Punishment for civil contempt (wilful disobedience of court orders), Contempt of Courts Act, 1971Guilt having been established by the earlier judgment, the Court on the question of quantum imposed seven days' simple imprisonment on the principal contemnor and a fine on both respondents, while deferring execution briefly to allow the contempt to be purged by compliance. (¶¶ 1, 4)
Held
- Where contemnors held guilty of wilful disobedience of the orders of this Court and the High Court were thereafter given sufficient opportunities either to comply with those orders or to settle amicably with the petitioner, and did neither, a sentence of seven days' simple imprisonment on the first respondent and a fine of Rs. 5,00,000 on both respondents is warranted; the fine is to be deposited in the Bombay High Court within two weeks, Rs. 4,00,000 to be paid to the petitioner and Rs. 1,00,000 transferred to the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority. (¶¶ 3, 4)
- To give the contemnor one last opportunity to purge the contempt and comply with the orders of the High Court and this Court, the sentence is kept in abeyance for two weeks; on non-compliance within that period it takes effect and the first respondent must surrender before the concerned court or authority to undergo the imprisonment. (¶ 4)
Result
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 940 of 2021 disposed of: respondent No. 1, Dharmesh S. Jain, sentenced to seven days' simple imprisonment and both respondents fined Rs. 5,00,000, to be deposited before the Bombay High Court within two weeks (Rs. 4,00,000 to the petitioner, Rs. 1,00,000 to the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority); the sentence kept in abeyance for two weeks to permit compliance with the orders of 28.10.2021 and 08.08.2019, failing which it takes effect and respondent No. 1 must surrender.