Criminal Appeal No 100 of 1958
Appeal from the judgment and order dated April 24 1958 of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Misc Case No 38 of 1958
G section Pathak and D N Mukherjee for the appellants
L K Jha and R C Datta for respondent No 1
K B Bagchi and P K Bose for respondent No 2 1961
January 13
The Judgment of Imam and Raghubar Dayal JJ was delivered by Imam J Subba Rao J delivered a separate judgment
IMAM J
The appellants were convicted for contempt of court and each of them was sentenced to pay a find of Rs 500 by the Calcutta High Court
They applied to the High Court for a certificate that 463 the case was a fit one for appeal to this Court which was granted
Hence the present appeal
On March 19 1955 one Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury filed a complaint before the Sub Divisional Magistrate Alipore against the respondent B K Sen under section 497 of the Indian Penal Code
The Magistrate after examining numerous witnesses declined to frame a charge and discharged the accused under section 2531 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by his order dated July 13 1957
Against the order of discharge Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury filed a revisional application before the Sessions Judge of 24 Parganas who by his order dated November 22 1957 directed further enquiry
On January 3 1958 the Magistrate while holding further enquiry as directed allowed the prosecution to tender further evidence
On February 3 1958 the accused B K Sen filed a revision petition in the Calcutta High Court against the order of the Sessions Judge directing further enquiry as well as the order of the Magistrate permitting the prosecution to lead further evidence
The High Court thereupon issued a Rule and stayed further proceedings
The respondent B K Sen held the office of Commissioner of the Calcutta Corporation at the time he filed his petition in the Calcutta High Court for proceedings against the appellants for contempt of court
According to that petition at a special meeting of the Calcutta Corporation held on January 16 1958 the Mayor suggested the formation of a committee for discussion of necessary and appropriate steps to be taken with a view to eradicate alleged malpractices prevailing in different departments of the Corporation
At this meeting Satyananda Bhattacharjee made certain wild allegations against B K Sen Two resolutions were passed at the meeting one of which authorised the Mayor to constitute a Special
Committee to give effect to the suggestions and objectives indicated by the Mayor in his statement dated January 10 1958
On February 14 1958 at an ordinary meeting of the Calcutta Corporation
the aforesaid Bhattacharjee repeated his allegations made at the previous meeting of January 16
At the meeting 464 it was resolved that a Special Committee be set up and the appellants were elected as members of the committee
The Special Committee was to enquire into certain allegations made against certain officials of the Corporation who are said to have taken advantage of their office in carrying on business in their own names
The resolution was in the following terms That a Special Committee consisting of Councillors Shri section K Gupta Shri R N Majumdar and Shri section K Roy be set up to enquire into the allegations levelled against certain officials of the Corporation who are alleged to have been taking advantage of their high offices in carrying on business in their own names
The Committee will take up only those matters that relate to the Corporation
 The record of the contempt proceedings in the High Court shows that at a meeting of the Calcutta Corporation on March 26 1958 Bhattacharjee informed the Mayor that on February 14 1958 he had mentioned on the floor of the House certain charges against some high officials of the Corporation and that the Mayor had asked him to submit his papers to the Special Committee
Bhattacharjee further informed the Mayor that the day before at a sitting of the Special Committee he wanted to hand over to the Special Committee some papers that were with him but the Special Committee would not take them and had stated that they would enquire into open case only 
Bhattacharjee then asked the Mayor to request the Special Committee to enquire into all the allegations made by him
On this the Mayor asked Bhattacharjee to hand over the papers to him
Then the Mayor stated that if that was not written in the proceedings he would take it that day that all the papers would he sent to the Special Committee
According to B K Sen on April 11 1958 Bimala Kanta Roy was examined by the Committee and he admitted Chat his case against B K Sen under section 497 of the Indian Penal Code was at that time pending consideration before the High Court
Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury then alleged that either the witnesses 465 themselves or their near relations got appointments in the Corporation of Calcutta
Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury had specifically mentioned one Tarak Nath Dey
The entire purpose of the statement of Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury was to prove the truth of his allegations that B K Sen had abused his official position and had created a situation which made it impossible for him to produce relevant witnesses to prove his case
The Special Committee then caused the production of Tarak Nath Dey and confronted him with Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury
Tarak Nath Dey was then examined but denied that he was the agent of the wife of Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury or the Tadbirkar of B K Sen
The Special Committee went out of their way to traverse the grounds and take evidence on matters which were directly and substantially in issue and were pending in the Calcutta High Court
B K Sen further alleged in his petition that the appellants had set up a parallel court of enquiry for ascertaining the truth or otherwise of the allegations made by Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury
That the action of the Special Committee was calculated to create an atmosphere of prejudice against him and amounted to unwarranted inter ference with the free flow of justice
The action of the Special Committee had a tendency to prejudice the trial andor to influence the decision of the case by the trial Court or by the High Court
The Special Committee thereafter issued to him a questionnaire
The relevant portions of the questionnaire are in the following terms   III a
It is alleged that between 4th January 1956 and 20th September 1957 ie at or about the time when the case under section 497 IPC was being tried you gave appointments to the following persons 1 Anil Koyal 2 Jogendra Nath Mondal 3 Ahi Kanta Choudhury 4 Govinda Banerjee 5 Narendra Nath Naskar who are related respectively to Palan Koyal Haradhan alias Haridhan Mondal Tripti Choudhury Thakur Raj Smriti Tirtha and Upendra Naskar who were cited as witnesses in the case
59 466 bIt is alleged that about the same time you gave appointments to Tarak Nath Dey Hardhan Dey Pradip Bhaduri Ardhangsu Mondal etc
and condoned the punishment previously inflicted on Dhiren Mondal as they were helping you in conducting your defence in the case
c It is alleged that you were instrumental in securing the appointment of another probable prosecution witness Kamakshya Chatterjee through one M L Ghosh against whom a demolition case was pending
 The case of B K Sen before the High Court was that the action of the appellants as members of the Special Committee amounted to gross contempt of the High Court as well as of the Court of trial
Accordingly B K Sen filed on April 16 1958 his petition in the High Court for proceedings against the appellants for contempt of court
Notice was issued to the appellants by the High Court returnable the same day to show cause why they should not be proceeded against for contempt of court
On April 17 1958 the appellants showed cause
The  High Court however issued a Rule returnable by April 23
After hearing the parties the High Court on April 24 convicted the appellants as already stated
The only question for determination is whether the conduct of the appellants as members of the Special Committee amounted to contempt of court
On behalf of the appellants it was urged that the enquiry held by the Special Committee was not to determine the guilt or the innocence of B K Sen in the case under section 497 pending against him
It was impossible to characterise the enquiry by the Committee as a parallel enquiry
The Special Committee had been constituted specially for the purpose of determining whether the employees of the Calcutta Corporation had abused their position in the discharge of the powers vested in them
The Special Committee was not constituted to enquire into the conduct of B K Sen only
Even the questionnaire sent to him referred to three incidents which have nothing to do with the case under a 497 against him pending in the 467 Magistrate s court
The first incident was concerned with an agreement with some lady to build a house for Rs 40000 and to sell it to her for Rs 50000 and that thereby he had engaged in a business for profit which was contrary to his conditions of service
The second incident related to the reduction of the valuation of certain premises belonging to some persons described as the Guptas who were either his relations or friends long after their appeal had been disposed of and without recording any adequate reasons for such reduction
The third incident related to I the assessment of his own house when he had reduced its letting value to Rs 90 per month and on that basis had been paying the Corporation tax whereas he actually received as house rent for the same at Rs 250 per month
The opinion expressed by the Land Acquisition Collector was that the proper letting value of the premises would be Rs 281 per month
The entire purpose of the enquiry was to ascertain whether B K Sen as Commissioner of the Corporation had been abusing his position as such
Even the questionnaire under IIIa b and c does not state that B K Sen had so acted with a view to suborning prosecution witnesses in the case against him under section 497 or that he had acted in a manner so as to suppress the evidence which might be led against him
It was pointed out that the questionnaire throughout stated  it is alleged  and there was no assertion therein that B K Sen had actually acted in an improper manner
The letter which accompanied the questionnaire expressly requested B K Sen to give the Committee some time between 10 am and 1 1 a m on April 16 so that they could get the facts from him
In other words the Special Committee had not accepted the allega tions against B K Sen but had merely pointed out to him the nature of the allegations and desired to get from him the actual facts
This conduct of the appellants as members of the Special Committee could not in any way amount to their converting themselves into a tribunal holding a parallel enquiry to the real matter in issue in  the case under section 497 against B K Sen 468 It was further urged that if the question at all arose in the enquiry that B K Sen had acted with the ulterior motives in the matters stated in questionnaire 111a b and c that would be merely incidental to the main purpose of the enquiry whether he as Commissioner of the Calcutta Corporation had abused his position
Before the conduct of the appellants could be characterised as contempt of court it had to be established that their conduct tended to prejudice mankind against B K Sen or it tended or was calculated to interfere with the due course of justice
It was further argued that before a person can be convicted for contempt of court it must be found that his act amounted to real contempt and was of a kind that necessitated action being taken by the court against him
In the present case the incidental question whether B K Sen had acted in an improper way in making the appointments under questionnaire 111a b and c with a view to suit his own end was something too remote for a court to hold that it tended to or was calculated to interfere with the course of justice and that it amounted to such contempt which required the taking of proceedings for contempt against the appellants
Reliance was also placed on section 991 of the Calcutta Municipal Act 1951 which states that Every Special Committee shall conform to any instructions that may from time to time be given to it by the Corporation
 The appellants as members of the Special Committee had merely performed their public duty in obeying the instructions of the Corporation when at the meeting of the Corporation on March 26 1958 the papers presented by Bhattacharjee were sent to the Special Committee
If the action of the appellants at II amounted in law to contempt of court it was so slight that it did not call for proceedings for contempt being instituted against them
The respondents in this appeal are B K Sen and the State of West Bengal
On behalf of the State of West Bengal no submissions were made
On behalf of B K Sen however it wait contended that the facts asserted in his petition for contempt filed in the High 460 Court had not been controverted by the appellants
All that the appellants had stated in their affidavit was that they did not admit the assertions of fact in the petition for contempt other than those stated in their affidavit
It was strongly urged on behalf of B K Sen that he protested at the meeting of the Corporation on February 14 1958 that Bhattacharjee s allegations ought not to be entertained as the subject matter of his allegations was at the time sub judice in the Calcutta High Court
Several members of the Corporation had also raised a similar objection
Apparently from Bhattacharjee s statement at the meeting of the Corporation on March 26 1958 the Committee had refused to take the papers submitted by him and the Committee had stated that they would enquire into  open case only 
In spite of the knowledge which the appellants had about the matter being sub judice in the Calcutta High Court they bad none the less at the meeting of the Special Committee on the 11th of April 1958 examined Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury the complainant in the case under a 497 Indian Penal Code against B K Sen Furthermore they had also examined Tarak Nath Dey with reference to the allegations made by Bhattacharjee
The appellants had thus entered into a parallel enquiry into a matter which was at that time in issue in the proceedings in the Calcutta High Court
That Court had before it a petition of B K Sen questioning the validity of the order of the Sessions Judge directing further enquiry in the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code
An important question to be decided in that proceeding was whether it was correct that B K Sen had suborned the prosecution witnesses in the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code against him or had prevented witnesses for the prosecution from appearing against him
It was clear from paragraphs 7 and 15 of Annex
C the charges made by Bhattacharjee against B K Sen that his case was that B K Sen had been tampering with prosecution witnesses of Garia with the aid of Dhiren Mondal
Some of the sets of alleged adultery are said to have been committed at Garia
B K Sen had also won over a 470 prosecution witness Kamakshya Chatterjee by procuring an appointment for him in the Central Bank of India Ltd Calcutta
The action of the appellants in thus holding a parallel enquiry tended to interfere with the course of justice as well as to prejudice mankind against B K Sen
The action of the appellants could not be regarded as slight because it had been a deliberate action
It was not enough to say that the appellants had merely sent a questionnaire to B K Sen and had not made any comment on the allegations made before them by Bhattacharjee and Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury
It was the act of holding an enquiry into a matter which was directly in issue and which was pending for determination in the Calcutta High Court which amounted to contempt of court Mr Jha on behalf of B K Sen further contended that the provisions of section 991 of the Calcutta Municipal Act could not be pleaded in defence to a charge of contempt if the action of the appellants amounted to contempt of court
Furthermore as the direction given to the appellants was by the Mayor and not the Calcutta Corporation section 991 did not apply
We would now consider whether the action of the appellants amounts in law to real contempt of the Calcutta High Court and the Magistrate before whom the proceedings under section 497 were pending at the time the High Court passed its order convicting the appellants for contempt
There is a controversy between the appellants and B K Sen whether Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury and Tarak Nath Dey were examined by the appellants
There is no clear statement on behalf of the appellants in denial
Their mere assertion that  save and except what was stated in their affidavit nothing else was admitted  would not be enough to controvert this assertion of B K Sen Even if it be assumed that these two persons were examined by the appellants what is stated in paragraph 10 of B K Sen s affidavit in the High Court is that Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury had mentioned names of the prosecution witnesses and had alleged that either the witnesses themselves or their near 471 relations had received appointments in the Corporation of Calcutta
He had also alleged that Tarak Nath Dey was the agent of the wife of Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury and Tadbirkar of B K Sen Tarak Nath Dey when examined denied this
He was certainly an employee of the Corporation
Paragraph 10 further stated that the only purpose for which Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury was examined was to prove the truth of the allegations made by him that B K Sen had abused his official position and had created a situation which had made it impossible for Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury to produce relevant witnesses in proof of his case
Concerning the examination of Tarak Nath Dey in paragraph 11B K Sen stated that the idea behind the examination of this individual was to prove B K Sen s connection and association with the wife of B K Roy Choudhury and to show that he had appointed Tarak Nath Dey due to services rendered in connection with the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code against him
It is clear however from the questionnaire III a b and c that the appellants in framing the same did not assert that B K Sen s conduct in making the appointments mentioned therein was with a view to suborning prosecution evidence in the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code against him or to make it impossible for Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury to produce relevant witnesses in proof of his case
The combined effect of the letter written by the appellants to B K Sen in sending the questionnaire and the manner in which the questionnaire III a b and c were framed would indicate that the appellants did not accept all the allegations made by Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury or Bhattacharjee
The record does not establish that at any time the appellants had made comments on the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code pending against B K Son or in respect of any matter pending in connection with that case in the Calcutta High Court
It was however said that in taking the papers filed by Bhattacharjee and thereupon examining Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury and Tarak Nath Dey the 472 appellants had embarked upon a parallel enquiry on matters which were pending investigation in a court of law
The Special Committee consisting of the appellants was constituted by the Corporation to conduct an enquiry into the conduct of the servants of the Corporation in matters relating to affairs of the Corporation
The Special Committee was enquiring into not only the conduct of the Commissioner of the Corporation B K Sen but also into the conduct of other servants of the Corporation
The questionnaire sent to B K Sen refers to his conduct in relation to matters in questionnaires 1 and 11
These were matters which had no connection whatsoever with the case under section 497 Indian Penal Code against B K Sen
Regarding questionnaire III a b and c the principal matter which the Special Committee were to enquire into was whether 1 B K Sen had made the appointments in question and 2 those appointments were of persons who were either related to the prosecution witnesses in the section 497 case or were helping B K Sen in conducting his defence in that case
The questionnaire nowhere suggested that B K Sen had made these appointments in order to suborn prosecution witnesses in that case or that he had made the appointments with a view to preventing Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury from producing witnesses to prove his case against B K Sen Appointment of persons who were relations of witnesses for the prosecution in the section 497 case or of those who were helping B K Sen in his defence in that case would certainly be a relevant matter in ultimately deciding whether B K Sen had taken advantage of his position as Commissioner of the Calcutta Corporation in making undeserving appointments
On the other hand even if it were established that the appointments were made of relations of prosecution witnesses and of those who were helping him in his defence the Special Committee may have at the conclusion of their enquiry found that the appointments in question were in fact of suitable and qualified persons and that B K Sen had not in making the appointments abused his position as a servant of the Corporation 473 The circumstances do not establish that the Special Committee had constituted itself as a court of parallel enquiry to look into matters in issue in the section 497 case against B K Sen or which were in issue in the pending proceedings in the High Court
What exactly is meant by a court of parallel enquiry is not clear
No doubt it would be mischievous for a newspaper to systematically conduct an independent investigation into a crime for which a man has been arrested and to publish the results of that investigation
This is because trial by newspapers when a trial by one of the regular tribunals of the country is going on must be prevented
The basis for this view is that such action on the part of a newspaper tends to interfere with the course of justice whether the investigation tends to prejudice the accused or the prosecution
There is no comparison between a trial by a newspaper and what has happened in this case
The Special Committee had embarked upon an enquiry on the directions of the Corporation in order to discover malpractice on the part of the Corporation s servants
Malpractices on the part of a servant of the Corporation would presumably include making unworthy appointments
The ascertainment of the motive for the appointments would be merely incidental to the main purpose of the enquiry
It would be difficult to conclude therefrom that the Special Committee were holding a parallel enquiry on matters pending decision by a court of law and that thereby their action tended to interfere with the course of justice
It was not asserted in the affidavit of B K Sen that the Special Committee had knowledge that one of the questions to be decided in the proceedings before the High Court was whether B K Son had suborned the prosecution witnesses in the case under section 497 against him
There is no finding of the High Court in this respect either
If the conduct of a particular party amounts to contempt of court usually lack of knowledge of pending proceedings may not be available to him by way of defence
We have looked into the record of this case and have no hesitation in saying that the appellants at no 60 474 time intended to interfere with the course of justice  and their conduct did not tend to interfere with the course of justice
The appellants had been careful in making no comments on any proceedings pending in a court of law or the issues arising out of them
In these circumstances we are of the opinion that the offence of contempt of court by the appellants has not been established
The appeal is accordingly allowed and the conviction of the appellants for contempt of court is set aside
The fines if paid must be refunded
SUBBA RAO J
I have had the advantage of perusing the judgment prepared by my learned brother Imam J
I regret my inability to agree with him
In my view this is one of the typical cases wherein a group of enlightened men constituting a committee did a purposive act which had a clear tendency to obstruct or interfere with the due process of justice
On the facts the following questions fall to be considered 1 What was the nature of the criminal proceedings pending in the Court of the Sub Divisional Magistrate Alipore and in the High Court at Calcutta and what were the questions that were to be decided therein 2 What was the nature of the inquiry initiated by the appellants and what was the subjectmatter of the said inquiry 3 Whether the acts attributed to the appellants constituted contempt of court
4 If the appellants were guilty of contempt of court was this an appropriate case for taking contempt proceedings against them  5 Whether the punishment imposed on the appellants was excessive
The learned Judges of the High Court were in a position to ascertain the scope of the criminal proceedings taken against the appellants
for they had before them the entire record pertaining to the criminal revision case
The judgment of the High Court discloses that the learned Judges had freely drawn from the said record the facts necessary to elucidate the question raised before them but unfortunately none of the parties thought fit to get the relevant portions of the criminal proceedings printed and placed before us 475 I would therefore proceed on the basis of the allegations made by the respondents in their petition filed before the High Court in so far as they were not specifically controverted by the appellants and on the facts given by the learned Judges in their judgment
On March 19 1955 one Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury filed a complaint before the Sub Divisional Magistrate Alipore alleging that the first respondent B K Sen the then Commissioner of the Corporation of Calcutta committed acts of adultery with his wife Tripti Roy Choudhury and thereby committed an offence under section 497 of the Indian Penal Code
After protracted trial and on an examination of many witnesses the Sub Divisional Magistrate by his order dated July 13 1957 discharged the first respondent under section 253 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
Before the Sub Divisional Magistrate it was contended that the case of the complainant was true but he was prevented from proving it by reason of the respondent s interference with the prosecution witnesses
The Sub Divisional Magistrate in discharging the respondent also found that some prosecution witnesses were won over by the said respondent
Against the said order of discharge Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury filed a revision petition in the Court of the Sessions Judge 24 Parganas under section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
The learned Sessions Judge accepted the contention of Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury that by the influence of respondent No 1 many prosecution witnesses were withheld from the court and by an order dated November 22 1957 he set aside the order of the Sub Divisional Magistrate and directed further enquiry by Sri C L Choudhury a Magistrate with 1st Class powers at Alipore
On January 3 1958 the said Magistrate passed an order enlarging the scope of the further enquiry and directed examination of new witnesses in the result the prosecution was allowed to tender further evidence and the entire case was reopened and it was awaiting the decision of that court
On February 31958 respondent No 1 filed a criminal revision being Criminal Revision Case No 149 of 1959 476 in the High Court at Calcutta against the order of the Magistrate dated January 31958 directing the examination of new witnesses
A division bench of the High Court issued a rule and stayed further proceedings in the Magistrate s court
It would be seen that one of the questions that fell to be decided by the High Court was whether there was any truth in the allegation that the respondent suborned the prosecution witnesses with the result that some important witnesses did not attend the court and others perjured themselves to support the respondent
If the criminal revision was dismissed and the trial before the Magistrate proceeded a similar question would arise before the Magistrate namely whether the prosecution witnesses were kept back from the witness box because they were tampered with by respondent No 1 and whether the prosecution witnesses examined or some of them had been influenced by the respondent
This question would have an important bearing not only on the disposal of the criminal revision petition but also on the appreciation of the evidence before the Magistrate
It may be recalled that on February 3 1958 a division bench of the High Court issued a rule and stayed further proceedings in the Magistrate s court
On January 16 1958 at a special meeting of the Corporation of Calcutta the Mayor suggested the formation of a committee for discussion of necessary and appropriate steps to be taken with a view to eradicate alleged malpractices prevailing in different departments of the Corporation
The Mayor suggested that the Commissioner of the Corporation should place his suggestions on the subject before the Committee
Satyananda Bhattacharjee one of the councillors made certain allegations against the Commissioner
The meeting passed two resolutions one of which authorized the Mayor to constitute a Special Committee
On February 14 1958 another meeting of the Corporation was held
In that meeting Satyananda Bhattacharjee reiterated his allegations against the Commissioner and particularly referred to the criminal case pending in
the High Court
The respondent protested against 477 reference to matters which constituted the subjectmatter of a pending case in court
After some debate the Corporation passed the following resolution appointing a Special Committee consisting of appellants 1 2 and 3 ResolvedThat a Special Committee consisting of Councillors Sri section K Gupta Sri
R N Majumdar and Sri SK Roy be set up to enquire into the allegations levelled against certain officials of the Corporation who are alleged to have been taking advantage of their high offices in carrying on business in their own names
The Committee will take up only those matters that relate to the Corporation
 It will be seen from the resolution that the said Committee was only authorized to enquire against officials of the Corporation who were carrying on business in their own names
It was further elucidated that the Committee would take up only those matters that related to the Corporation
Neither expressly nor by necessary implication this resolution authorized the Committee to make an inquiry against the Commissioner of the Corporation in regard to any appointments made by him in the Corporation with a view tosuborn witnesses in the aforesaid criminal case
Indeed the last sentence of the resolution expressly prohibited the Committee from embarking upon any such inquiry in regard to matters that did not relate to the Corporation
On March 29 1958 a motion was tabled in the meeting of the Corporation for the removal of the Commissioner from his office under section 193 of the Calcutta Municipal Act 1951
Out of the 86 councillors only 38 supported the motion and as the requisite number of votes was not obtained the motion was dropped
It appears that Satyananda Bhattacharjee intended to hand over to the Special Committee certain papers relevant to the allegations made against the Commissioner but in view of the limited terms of the reference they could not be received by the Committee
There
after on March 26 1958 Satyananda Bhattacharjee made a complaint of the same in his speech in the meeting of the Corporation and the Mayor took over the 478 papers from him and promised to send them to the Special Committee and he accordingly handed them over to the Special Committee
Two of the documents handed over by the Mayor to the Special Committee were annexed to the affidavit filed by each of the appellants and marked C
The first document contained various charges made by the said Satyananda Bhattacharjee against the respondent and the second document purported to be a copy of the petition filed by Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury in the Court of the Sub Divisional Magistrate Alipore on May 31 1955
In the first document Satyananda Bhattacharjee gave inter alia the names of various prosecution witnesses and the names of persons related to them to whom the Commissioner had given appointments
He had also given the name of another prosecution witness and alleged that the Commissioner procured an appointment for him in the Central Bank Ltd Calcutta through the good offices of another officer of the Bank by promising the latter to drop a case in respect of his premises
This document therefore contained in unambiguous terms specific allegations against the first respondent in the matter of suborning the prosecution witnesses in the criminal proceeding pending in the Magistrate s court and in the High Court
In the second document also specific allegations were made that the respondent was attempting to influence the Witnesses through the Corporation employees
On the basis of the allegations made by Satyananda Bhattacharjee and Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury an inquiry was started by the Committee against the first respondent in respect of charges among others pertaining to criminal proceedings pending against him in the court
It was disclosed in the affidavit filed in rejoinder by the respondent that the Special Committee held its deliberations in the lady councillors  room and that from March 25 1958 on a black board bung up outside that room it was written in chalk Allegations Special Committee that the first sitting of the Special Committee was held _on March 251 1958 that a Secretary and a steno grapher attended the meeting that the notes of the 479 proceedings taken by the stenographer were typed and that Satyananda Bhattacharjee Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury and other Councillors attended the meetings see the affidavit in rejoinder filed by the first respondent in the High Court
On April 11 1958 Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury was examined
It was stated in the affidavit filed by the first respondent in the High Court that the said person admitted before the Committee that he had filed a complaint against the first respondent under section 497 of the Indian Penal Code and that was pending in the High Court and that he also gave the names of the witnesses whom he had cited in proof of his case and that either the witnesses themselves or their near relations got appointments in the Corporation of Calcutta
He also mentioned that one Tarak Nath Dey was the agent of the wife of Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury and Tadbirkar of the respondent
The Committee thereafter examined Tarak Nath Dey and Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury identified him as the person referred to by him in his statement
Tarak Nath Dey in his examination denied the said allegations made against him
Presumably on the basis of the allegations made by Satyananda Bhattacharjee and the evidence given before the Com
mittee by Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury the Committee issued the following notice dated April 151958 to the first respondent  As you probably know we have been appointed to make an enquiry into certain allegations relating to the administration of the Corporation of Calcutta and specially into certain steps taken by you in the matter of assessment and appointments and a few other matters we are giving you a synopsis of the cases in which the enquiry is being held and we shall be glad if you kindly give us some time between 10 am and 11 a m tomorrow the 16th instant so that we can get the facts from you
 The synopsis of the cases served upon the first respondent consisted of three questions
We are concerned only with the third question in this case and it reads  III a
It is alleged that between 4th January 1956 and 20th September 1957 ie at or about the 480 time when the case under section 497 I P C was being tried you gave appointments to the following persons 1
Anil Koyal
Jogendra Nath Mondal
Ahi Kanta Choudhury
Govinda Banerjee
Narendra Nath Naskar
b It is alleged that about the time you gave appointments to Tarak Nath Dey Haradhan Dey Pradip Bhaduri Ardhangsu Mondal etc and condoned the punishment previously inflicted on Dhiren Mondal as they were helping you in conducting your defence in the case
c It is alleged that you were instrumental in securing the appointment of another probable prosecution witness Kamakshya Chatterjee through one M L Ghosh against whom a demolition case was pending
 Thereafter on April 16 1958 the respondent filed a petition in the High Court at Calcutta for contempt of court and the High Court by an order of the same date issued notice to show cause why the rule prayed for should not be issued
The following crucial facts emerge from the fore
going narration that led to the filing of the contempt petition The resolution appointing the Special Committee did not authorize it either expressly or by necessary implication to make an inquiry in respect of the activities of the Commissioner in connection with the criminal case pending in the Magistrate s Court as well as in the High Court
The members of the Committee were the councillors of the Corporation and one of them namely Saibal Kumar Gupta belonged to the Indian Civil Service another it was represented was a practising barrister and the third was also an educated person
Being members of the Corporation they must have known what all happened at the meeting of the Corporation and particularly the objections raised by the respondent and others that no inquiry should be made in respect of matters that were sub judice in courts They must 481 have also known that in view of the said objections the resolution was precisely drawn to avoid any encroachment on the matters that were sub judice
No further resolution was passed by the Corporation enlarging the scope of the enquiry
Section 91 of the Calcutta Municipal Act 1951 does not authorize the Mayor to enlarge its scope
The members of the Committee who must be deemed to have had knowledge of the scope of its powers obviously initiated the inquiry which was beyond the scope of the resolution
With the knowledge that criminal proceedings were pending they examined witnesses served questionnaire on the respondent invited or at any rate permitted apart from the staff which was assisting the committee in the discharge of its duties councillors and others to attend the meeting
The inquiry could not in any sense of the term be called confidential and was conducted in a manner that it would be known to everybody who was interested in it
The inquiry against the Commissioner of the Corporation in the Corporation building in respect of a criminal case for the offence of adultery alleged to have been committed by him must have been a sensational news item at any rate it must have attracted the attention of the vast staff of the Corporation and its innumerable visitors
With this background I shall briefly consider the law of contempt relevant to the facts of this case
The Contempt of Courts Act 1926 has not defined the phrase  contempt of court 
The judgment of Lord Hardwicke L C in Re Read  Huggonson 1 which has always been regarded as the locus classics on the subject declared  Nothing is more incumbent upon courts of justice than to preserve their proceedings from being misrepresented  nor is there anything of more pernicious consequence than to prejudice the minds of the public against persons concerned as parties in causes before the cause is finally heard The learned Lord Chancellor characterized contempt as of three kinds namely scandalizing the court abusing par ties in court prejudicing mankind against 1  61 482 parties and the court before the cause is heard
Adverting to the third category which is germane to the present case the Lord Chancellor proceeded to state at p 471 thus  There may also be a contempt of this court in prejudicing mankind against persons before the cause is heard
There cannot be anything of greater consequence than to keep the streams of justice clear and pure that parties may proceed with safety both to themselves and their characters
 But to constitute contempt of court in the words of Lord Russel C J  the applicant must show that something has been published which either is clearly intended or at least is calculated to prejudice a trial which is pending  See The Queen vs Payne 1
In The Queen vs Gray 2 the phrase  contempt of court  is defined as inter alia  something done calculated to obstruct or interfere with the due course of justice or the lawful process of the courts
 Lord Goddard CJ in R vs Odham s Press Ltd 3 after considering the relevant authority on the subject laid down the following test to ascertain whether there is contempt of court in a given case at p 497  The test is whether the matter complained of is calculated to interfere with the course of justice Words much to the same effect were used by Parker CJ in a recent decision in R vs Duffy  Others 4 when he stated at p 894 that    the question in every case is whether the article was intended or calculated to prejudice the fair hearing of the proceedings
 In Halsbury s Laws of England 3rd edition Vol 8 it is stated at p 8  It is sufficient if it is clear that the comment tends to prejudice the trial of the action
 Adverting to the third category of contempt described by Lord Hardwicke L C the learned author says at p 8 thus  The effect of such misrepresentations may be not only to deter persons from coming forward to 1  580
2 3 4 483 give evidence on one side but to induce witnesses to give evidence on the other side alone to prejudice the minds of jurors or to cause the parties to discontinue or compromise or to deter other persons with good causes of action from coming to the court
 The said view has been accepted and followed also in India see State vs Biswanath Mohapatra 1 and Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi s case 2
Learned counsel contends that every such act is not contempt of court but it is a condition of the exercise of the jurisdiction to commit a person for contempt that it must seriously prejudice the course of justice
It is not necessary to go into the question whether even though an act constitutes a contempt of court the seriousness of the offence is a condition of the exercise of the jurisdiction or is only an element that a judge has to take into consideration in exercising his discretion whether to take action for contempt of court or not for in this case on the facts I am satisfied that the act of the appellants had a clear tendency to prejudice the fair hearing of the criminal proceedings pending against the first respondent
In a criminal case it is more strictly the duty of a court to prevent any interference with the course of justice than in civil cases
On the said authorities it is settled law that a person will be guilty of contempt of court if the act done by him is intended or calculated or likely to interfere with the course of justice
How can it be said that the inquiry initiated by the Committee to ascertain whether the witnesses cited or examined for the prosecution in the pending criminal case were suborned by the Commissioner by devious methods alleged to have been adopted by him could not have any serious repercussions on the proceedings pending in the Magistrate s court as well as in the High Court Assume for a moment that the High Court dismissed the revision and as a result the Magistrate took over the criminal case before him for trial and the prosecution examined its witnesses with the knowledge that 1 ILR 1955 Cuttack 305
2 AIR 1929 All
484 an inquiry would be held by a responsible committee in respect of conduct or credibility of witnesses to be examined in the criminal case
Would it be possible to predicate that the witnesses could be in a position to depose truthfully in the witness box A truthful witness who would otherwise speak in favour of the accused might be tempted to lie in the witness box either to avoid an ignominy that he perjured in the witness box as a relative of his was appointed in the Corporation or to protect the interests of his relation though as a matter of fact the said relation had been appointed on his own merit So too an untruthful witness may perjure himself in the witness box with a view to harm the Commissioner in the inquiry before the Committee
Some honest witnesses might be afraid to come into the witness box for in the inquiry made by the Committee they might be attributed motives
Though a strong willed Magistrate might exclude from his mind the fact that a high power committee is making an inquiry in respect of the witnesses that are being examined before him the factum of the inquiry might unconsciously operate on a weaker mind
The inquiry would therefore have an obvious tendency to obstruct the even course of justice
Assume again that the High Court had not stayed the proceedings before the Committee and the Committee completed the proceedings and exonerated the Commissioner by holding that the witnesses were not suborned by him even that finding would have an effect on witnesses and the Magistrate for with the background of such a finding untruthful witnesses would depose to a false case with greater confidence than otherwise they would
This finding might also affect the result of the case
Assume once again that the Committee completed its inquiry but held that the witnesses were suborned the effect of such finding would certainly have a far reaching impact on the credibility of witnesses and also would deflect the witnesses from speaking the truth
From whatever angle it is looked at the tendency to prejudice the course of justice is apparent
Now taking the High Court it may be said that a Judge of a High Court can be relied upon not 485 to be influenced by what the Committee might or might not say
But that would not prevent the public and the affected parties from reasonably apprehending that the inquiry initiated by a high power committee or the findings given therein would affect the fair hearing of the revision petition
From the aforesaid facts it is manifest that the contempt in the instant case is not merely a technical but a serious one which is calculated to interfere with or obstruct the due course of justice
In my view therefore this was preeminently a fit case for the court to take action
The last question is whether the learned Judges were right in imposing a fine on the appellants
The judgment of the High Court shows that the learned Judges were very considerate to the appellants
They bad given them every opportunity to apologize for their conduct The following passage appears in the judgment  It may be observed at this stage that during arguments each of the respondents was asked if be wished to apologize for any contempt that might be found against him
Each of the respondents expressed his inability to apologize
At the conclusion of the arguments we made known to the respondents that in our view they were guilty of contempt and asked if they or any of them desired to tender any apology to Court
Respondent No 4 Bimala Kanta Roy Choudhury tendered an apology to the Court but the other respondents refused to do so
 In the circumstances the learned Judges in my view rightly convicted each of the appellants for contempt of court and sentenced each of them to pay a fine of Rs 500 
In the result the appeal fails and is dismissed
BY THE COURT In accordance with the opinion of the majority the appeal is allowed and the conviction of the appellants for contempt of Court is set aside
The fine if paid must be refunded
Appeal allowed


Summary:
M a Hindu died leaving his mother widow sisters and sisters  son and daughters
There were disputes between the mother and the widow which were settled at the instance of certain arbitrators
Under this settlement a portion of one of the houses was given to a sister of M another portion to R son of another sister and his sister and a third portion to the daughter of the third sister
Certain properties  which had been agreed to be sold under the settlement were sold to the appellant by the mother and the widow
After the death of the mother and the widow R filed a suit as the next reversioner of M for recovery of the properties sold on the ground that the alienation was without necessity and was not binding on him
The appellant contended i that R was precluded from disputing the settlement between the mother and the widow as he had received a benefit under it and had ratified it by his conduct and ii that the transfer was for legal necessity
Held that the transfer was not binding on R and he was entitled to avoid it
The settlement between the mother and the widow was also not binding on R
If a person having full knowledge of his rights as a possible reversioner enters into a transaction which settles his claim as well as the claim of the opponents at the relevant time he cannot be permitted to go back on that arrangement when reversion actually falls open
But the mere fact that the reversioner has received some benefit under the transaction or has not challenged its validity when it took place cannot bar his rights as a reversioner
It will always be a question of fact as to whether the conduct of the reversioner on which the plea of ratification is based does in law amount to ratification properly so called
In the present case the settlement was not in the nature of a family arrangement at that time R was a minor and was not a party to any of the said transactions
There was no conduct of R which could amount to ratification of the settlement or of the alienation
At the time when he accepted the gift he could not know about his rights as a possible reversioner
Further there was no legal necessity for the transfer
Sahu Madho Das vs Pandit Mukand Ram   Dhiyan Singh vs Jugal Kishore 1952 SCR 478 Kanhai Lal vs Brij Lal 1918 LR 45 IA 118
Rangasami Gounden vs Nachiappa Gounden 1918 LR 46 IA 72 and Ramgouda Annagouda vs Bhausakeb 1927 LR 54 IA 396 referred to 625