Whopping 1.45 lakh pending contempt cases, Law Min asks all govt depts to comply with judicial orders

With the authorities being the biggest litigant, a ample fig of pending contempt petitions interest the Ministries and departments of the Union and authorities governments. To trim the pendency of specified cases, the Law and Justice Ministry has precocious written to the secretaries of each ministries and departments urging them to acceptable up a compliance mechanism.

The ministry wrote connected January 3 that Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Ashok Kumar Mittal had made a peculiar notation of the “increasing contempt cases successful the state arsenic a substance of urgent nationalist importance”, portion speaking successful the House connected December 4, 2024. Mittal suggested that the authorities should acceptable up an effectual compliance mechanics to amended compliance with tribunal orders successful a timebound mode truthful justness is delivered to the litigant.

“In this regard, each the Ministries/Departments are requested to kindly look into this substance and besides to found a Compliance Mechanism for effectual timely implementation of judicial orders which volition thereby trim the contempt cases successful the country,” the ministry wrote.

While the Ministry acrophobic is bound to reply to the MP who has raised a Special Mention, it is not indispensable that it volition instrumentality the proposition given, a Parliament root said. In his Special Mention, Mittal had said that aft warring lengthy ineligible battles successful courts, erstwhile litigants get orders successful their favour, they person to sojourn authorities offices and past determination contempt petitions to person them implemented. It was “injustice” with the litigant, helium said.

According to the National Judicial Data Grid arsenic of Wednesday, 942 civilian and transgression contempt cases were pending successful the Supreme Court and 1.44 lakh successful the assorted High Courts of the country. About 60 per cent of the pending contempt cases successful High Courts were successful six High Courts — Calcutta, Allahabad, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

While reviewing the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, the Law Commission successful its study successful 2018 had noted that contempt of tribunal was a substance concerning the medication of justness and dignity and authorization of judicial tribunals.

“The instrumentality for contempt, with powerfulness of imposing punishment, ensures respect for the courts successful the eyes of the nationalist by guaranteeing authorisation against behaviour which mightiness assail the honour of the courts. Indeed, the courts indispensable beryllium capable to discharge their functions without fearfulness oregon favour,” the Law Commission study said.