- (1.) Heard Sri Harihar Prasad Srivastava who is an Advocate in person and perused the record.? This criminal contempt application has been filed under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 for initiating contempt proceedings against the respondents. In our opinion, this criminal contempt application is an abuse of the process of law by a person who is presumed to have knowledge of law being an Advocate.? From the record we find that there was a dispute between petitioner and respondent no. 2 Ajai Kumar Katiyar in respect of mutation of name over some immovable property. The proceedings in that regard have reached up to the High Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 45294 of 2015. The Hon'ble Single Judge after hearing the matter has reserved the judgement. We find that no interim order has been granted in favour of the applicant in the said writ petition. Sri Ajai Kumar Katiyar, the Tehsildar in terms of the order which is the subject matter of the said writ petition has proceeded to make necessary corrections in the relevant revenue records.
(2.) According to the applicant, respondent nos. 1 and 2 have committed criminal contempt of the court. The Additional Commissioner has wrongly understood the ratio of the judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court which were cited by the applicant and therefore the said Additional Commissioner has committed contempt. So far as the Tehsildar is concerned, it is stated that he has committed criminal contempt by making corrections in the revenue records despite being aware that against the order of respondent no. 1, a writ petition has been filed before this Court and that judgement has already been reserved.
(3.) In support of his contention of mala fides, the applicant has referred to a judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court rendered in the case of Sri Baradakanta Mishra Vs. Shri Bhimsen Dixit, 1972 AIR(SC) 2466 'Criminal contempt' has been defined under Section 2 (c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, it reads as under:- "2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) "contempt of court" means civil contempt or criminal contempt; (b) "civil contempt" means wilful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court; (c) "criminal contempt" means the 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- (i) scandalises or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court; or (ii) prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or (iii) interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner; (d) "High Court" means the High Court for a State or a Union territory, and includes the court of the Judicial Commissioner in any Union territory.";