The limits of fair criticism against court proceedings or judgements depends on the person making the critique?

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:18:16 +0000

In recent times we have seen a lot of contempt of court cases taken by the SC and various HCs in India. Contempt of court is provided as a reasonable restriction under article 19(2) of the constitution. But what exactly is contempt of court? It is basically disobedience or disrespect towards the court and its officers. The Contempt of Court Act 1971, under section 2 defines it to either civil contempt or criminal contempt. A civil contempt occurs when the judgement of the court is disobeyed willfully, or if there is a willful breach of the undertaking submitted to the court. For criminal defamation to occur it needs to have three things, a publication must scandalise the court, or it may interfere with the due process of the justice or it tends to obstruct the administration of the justice.