The High Court of Madras has censured its registry for refusing to number contempt petitions on the ground of limitation even in cases where the same was not contested by the contemnor.
Noting that by such acts the registry is trying to divest the power of the court by trying to take up the task of deciding the issue even at the time of presentation, Justice M Dhandapani said, such act is per se impermissible & cannot be allowed to continue. "Non-compliance of court order strikes at the substratum, thereby putting the majesty of the court in peril," he said.
The Court then directed the HC Registrar-General to circulate the order to all the staff of the HC after obtaining due permission from the Acting Chief Justice.
The issue pertains to a plea moved by P Rajan to punish Poongothai, joint director of health services, Dindigul for wilful disobedience of court order dated April 24, 2018.
Through the order, the court had directed the joint director to fix the proper pay grade to the petitioner & complete the process in eight weeks. Alleging wilful disobedience, the petitioner moved the contempt petition but the same was returned by the registry with a query to explain how the petition is maintainable.
When the plea came up for hearing, the court said, "it is to be borne in mind that allegation of contempt is nothing but a continuing wrong, which hits at the majesty of the court."
The Judge said, "The framers of our Constitution had foreseen such a scenario, where the resultant act of a contemptor in not complying with the directions of the court, not only causes grave prejudice to the aggrieved person, but also impinges on the authority of the court".
The Court, "Limitation prescribed under Section 20, no doubt, is a statutory prescription, which requires adherence, but it cannot go against the constitutional mandate contained in Article 215. When Article 215 clearly prescribes that contempt is punishable, merely because limitation is overshot alone cannot be the ground for rejecting the petition".
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