Section 2(C)(I) Of The Contempt Of Courts Act Is Protected By Article 19(2) Central Government To Karnataka HC

What Is Section 2(C)(I) Of The Contempt Of Courts Act

• Section 2 (c) of Contempt of Courts Act states the provisions of “Criminal Contempt”
• Any Publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which scandalises or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court will be considered as Criminal Contempt

Submissions By The Petitioners

• Journalists K. N. Prasad and N. Ram, former Union Minister Arun Shourie and Advocate Prashant Bhushan filed a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the offence of criminal contempt on the basis of scandalizing the court in the Karnataka High Court.
• They challenged the provision under the concerned section on the basis that it is in violation of Article 14 and 19 of the Indian Constitution as “incurably vague and manifestly arbitrary”.
• If the criticism tends to low down the authority of the judge and even obstructing justice, the court has the authority to penalize any such act which is likely to to vitiate the value of the judiciary under the Contempt of Courts Act 1971.

The Contention Of The Centre

• The Central Government in its Statement of Objections said that the offence of “criminal contempt for scandalizing the authority of the Court u/s 2 (c) (i) of the Contempt of Courts Act does not restrict freedom of speech.
• The Central government submitted that none of the fundamental rights under Article 19 are absolute and they are all subject to reasonable restrictions such as defamation, civility and morality, public order and encouragement of offences.
• The Centre submitted that the said petition is nothing but a “figment of the imagination of the petitioners. ”The Centre also objected that the argument of the petitioners that the scheme of the Act is elusive.
• Further, it added that the legislature cannot anticipate all possible situations amounting to contempt of court and the same has to be decided in the light of facts and circumstances of each case.

Court’s Order

• The Division Bench of Hon’ble Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suraj Govindraj, after hearing the contentions of both parties held that the matter will be taken up on June 28 2021.

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