Case: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Vs. L.K. Tripathi &amp; Others

2.1. In an apparent bid to pressurize the Central Government to expedite implementation of Sethu Samudram Project, Democratic Progressive Alliance comprising Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India and Pattali Makkal Katchi, passed a resolution on 24.9.2007 to resort to total cessation of work and closure of shops on 1.10.2007 and to conduct a general meeting of the leaders of all parties on 30.9.2007 at Chennai. The relevant portions of the resolution are extractedThe petitioner challenged the afore-mentioned resolution in Writ Petition No.31435 of 2007 filed before Madras High Court and prayed that the call given by the political parties for organizing bandh in the State of Tamil Nadu either on 1.10.2007 or any other day may be declared as violative of Articles 19 and 21 and the Directive Principles of the State Policy and fundamental duties embodied and enumerated in the Constitution of India. Shri Subramania Swamy of Janta Party, Shri K.R. Ramaswamy @ Traffic Ramaswamy (founder Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Social Workers Association, Chennai) and Shri R. Balasubramanian also filed Writ Petition Nos.31478, 31462 and 31631 of 2007 with similar prayers.2.3. Along with the writ petition, the petitioner filed two miscellaneous petitions with the prayer that a direction be issued to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam represented by its President M. Karunanidhi (Respondent No.4 in the contempt petition) to deposit a sum of Rs.100 crore with the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu on or before 28.9.2007 which could be utilized to compensate the damage caused to the general public and the five political parties be restrained from proceeding with the call for bandh in the State in terms of resolution dated 24.9.2007.2.4. After hearing counsel for the parties, the High Court admitted the writ petitions and issued the following directions to the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, District Collectors and other officers of theFeeling dissatisfied with the High Courts order, the petitioner filed S.L.P.(C) No.18879 of 2007 in this Court. The same was heard on 30.9.2007. The counsel representing respondent nos.1 to 3, who volunteered to appear, also made their submissions. After considering the respective submissions, this Court passed a detailed order, the relevant portions of which are reproducedEven before filing of writ petition by the petitioner, the then Chief Secretary of the State - Shri L.K. Tripathi (respondent No.1 herein) directed that the concerned officers be asked to take steps necessary for maintaining essential services and for providing protection to important offices and establishments apart from markets and business places. The instructions given by the Chief Secretary were circulated vide telefax No.SR.II/50641/2007 dated 27.9.2007, the relevant portions of which are extractedOn coming to know of this Courts order through electronic media, respondent No.1 directed that telephonic instructions be given to all the Collectors to convene meetings with the respective Superintendents of Police for ensuring that law and order and public tranquility are maintained.2.8. The Courts order was officially communicated to respondent no.1 on the same day i.e., 30.9.2007 at about 10.30 p.m. by fax. The latter immediately forwarded the same to respondent no.2 for taking necessary action. In turn, respondent No.2 directed the concerned police officers that steps should be taken for facilitating unobstructed movement of public transport and maintenance of essential services like water and electricity supply, milk distribution, telephone and telecommunication service, fire service, hospitals and protection be given to Central Government offices, courts, bus stands, railway stations, banks, market places, shops, industrial establishments, etc. These directions were conveyed to Zonal Inspector Generals of Police and Commissioners of Police by Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) vide fax dated 1.10.2007 which was sent between 11.28 p.m. on 30.9.2007 and 6.30 a.m. on 1.10.2007. The contents of that fax are reproduced below:-DateThe Secretary to Government, Public (SC) Department also sent fax No.SR.II/5064-5/2007 dated 1.10.2007 to all the District Collectors at 11.25 a.m. requiring them to send hourly reports to the Chief Secretarys Control Room regarding the law and order situation, movement, transport, functioning of essential services, functioning of schools and colleges, opening of shops, hotels and other public utilities, attendance in Government offices etc.3. On 3.10.2007, the petitioner filed this petition under Article 129 of the Constitution of India read with the 1971 Act and prayed that the respondents be punished for violation and disobedience of the Courts order dated 30.9.2007. The gravamen of the petitioners allegation is that in complete disregard of the restraint order passed by this Court, the concerned political parties including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam enforced the bandh in the entire State by ensuring that buses owned by the State Transport Corporation are kept off the road and shops and other business establishments remain closed; that 45,000 private buses were also not allowed to ply on that day; that shops and other business establishments were forcibly closed by the cadres of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and that the State machinery did not take any action to ensure functioning of public transport system and opening of the shops etc. It is also the petitioners case that even though 50,000 employees of the State Transport Corporation came forward to carry out their duties but they were prevented from entering the bus depots by the Depot Managers, Supervisor, etc. on the instructions of higher authorities and even the main gates of many bus terminals were closed and locked. To substantiate these allegations, the petitioner has placed on record the photographs collectively marked as Annexure P-5 and the telegrams which are said to have been sent by Shri K.K. Madeswaran, C. Sengottaiyan and M.A. Paneerselvam to Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporation, representation made by A.J. Selvaraj, Anna Trade Union Secretary, Radhapuram Taluk. In paragraph 14 of the Contempt Petition, it has been averred that several workers of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party moved in various vantage areas of the State with deadly and lethal weapons to ensure that no business or commercial activity was done on 1.10.2007 and whoever opened the shop was forced to down the shutters. It has been further averred that in Chennai, a restaurant at Arterial Mount Road was attacked and looted and many other shops and restaurants were ransacked and eatables were thrown out and bottles were broken, but the police remained mute spectators. In support of these averments, the petitioner placed on record copies of various newspapers. In paragraph 23, a reference has been made to the speech allegedly made by respondent No.6, Shri T.R. Balu, Union Minister for Shipping and Surface Transport, at the venue of the hunger strike on 1.10.2007 and it has been averred that the same was calculated to scandalize judiciary in general and order dated 30.9.2007 in particular. The relevant portions of the speech allegedly made by respondent no.6, which is said to have been published in the newspapers and also telecast on the television channels are extractedwe want to conduct a Bandh in a democratic manner to ensure speedy implementation of this Project, the Supreme Court is injuncting the same. Are judgments being delivered correctly in the Courts? If that is so, why are higher courts granting stay of orders of lower Courts?If judges are not making mistakes why are there conflicting judgments? Today there are many complaints against many judges. Corruption charges are appearing everyday. What does that mean? If they were upright yesterday, does it mean that they are not upright now? When was a sitting ever held on a Sunday? Unprecedented things are taking place.We are expressing our feelings. How many complaints are received against judges? There is provision in law for impeachment of sitting judges. The MPs sitting here should also think about it. Nothing wrong about it. Our MPs, including the ministers should know about it. Everyone including the ministers can sign it.In paragraph 7 of the reply affidavit filed by him, respondent no.1 has averred that after telecast of the news about the restraint order passed by the Court, telephonic instructions were issued to the District Collectors to maintain law and order and public peace. In para 8 of the affidavit, respondent no.1 has averred that immediately on receipt of the Courts order, a copy thereof was sent to respondent no.2 with suitable instructions to take necessary action and within the available time the police force was mobilized and bandobust was provided to all vital installations, State and Central Government offices, educational institutions, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation depots, bus stands, railway stations, airports, markets, places of worship, hospitals, important junctions, business areas and other places where people used to congregate and bandobust was also provided to the industrial establishments for their smooth functioning and pickets were posted at all sensitive places to avert law and order problems. According to respondent No.1, effective patrols and mobiles were organized for ensuring free flow of traffic in the State and open line patrols were deputed for keeping watch on the railway tracks; all the courts including the Madras High Court were given sufficient protection; vehicle checks were organized to prevent the movement of anti-social elements and trouble mongers and rowdy elements were detained under preventive measures. Respondent No.1 has claimed that on 1.10.2007 all the Courts functioned normally and movement of trains and other essential services were maintained without any obstruction. As regards transport services, respondent no.1 has averred that less number of Government transport services operated in the early morning but with the passage of time around 2749 routes were made operational.5. In his affidavit, respondent no.2, Shri P. Rajendran, has detailed the steps taken for ensuring presence of police at various important places for maintaining law and order and movement of transport services. He has denied that workers of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party had forcibly closed business establishments and shops by wielding lethal and deadly weapons for the purpose of conveying threats to the public.6. In his affidavit, respondent no.3 - Shri Debendranath Sarangi has given an account of the steps taken for ensuring normal operation of State Transport Services. In paragraphs 11 of the affidavit, respondent no.3 has averred that senior officers, i.e., Branch Managers and Divisional Managers of various State Transport Undertakings were instructed to ensure normal operation of buses on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.3 has then averred that the officers were on duty on 1.10.2007 and adequate police bandobust was provided at the Depots, but most of the crew did not turn up in the morning on 1.10.2007 and even those who came did not enter the Depot premises, did not sign the duty chart and dispersed after holding demonstration in front of the Depots; that the Branch Managers and Divisional Managers made efforts to operate the bus services with the help of available crew and with the passage of time the number of services substantially increased. Respondent No.3 has denied that the Drivers and Conductors were prevented from carrying out their duties or that the conductors did not issue tickets or that the main gates of bus terminals were closed and locked. He has also denied receipt of any representation or telegram. In para 15 of the affidavit, respondent No.3 has referred to the call given by the trade unions to abstain from work in the wake of decision taken by the political parties and averred that even though the latter withdrew the call for cessation of work, there was no corresponding response from the trade unions due to paucity of time and also due to the fact that most of the workers had left for outside places taking advantage of the impending strike and two days holidays. Respondent No.3 has also stated that the crew members who did not attend the duty on 01.10.2007 have not been paid the wages as per the policy "no work no pay". Respondent No.3 has controverted the petitioners assertion that daily collection of the Transport Corporations is over Rs.10 crores. According to him, the average collection of the Transport Corporations is Rs.7.5 crores per day, which is reduced to half on any holiday and less than half in the event of continuous holidays for 3-4 days. According to respondent No.3, total collection on 1.10.2007 was Rs.483 lakhs. Lastly, respondent no.3 has averred that in observance of the order of this Court necessary instructions were given to Managing Directors of all the State Transport Corporations to ply buses and send reply by Fax.7. Respondent No.4, Shri M. Karunanidhi, has come up with the plea that initially he was advised to adopt the counter affidavits of respondent nos.1 and 2 and a statement to that effect was made before the Court on 4.8.2008 by the advocate representing the State of Tamil Nadu but, later on, he decided to file a separate counter affidavit. In paragraph 3 of the affidavit, respondent No.4 has given the background in which decision was taken by Democratic Progressive Alliance comprising major political parties in Tamil Nadu to demonstrate their concern on the delay in implementation of Sethu Samudram Project by observing cessation of work between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.4 has then averred that on the basis of reports appearing in the TV news channels and after verifying the facts from counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No.3 in the special leave petition, he gave a call at about 1.30 p.m. for withdrawal of resolution dated 24.9.2007 and this was conveyed to the concerned political parties. According to respondent No.3, instructions were given to the government officials to carry out the Courts order and ensure that the bandh did not take place on 1.10.2007 and the fast undertaken by political parties should not, in any way, affect the general public or hinder their routine life. For the sake of convenience, paragraph 7 of the affidavit of respondent no.4 is reproducedThe order passed by this Honble Court was communicated to the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu by FAX at 10.30 PM by the Registrar of this Court on 30.09.2007. Even before the order was officially communicated, it was flashed in the TV News channels. After verifying with counsel at New Delhi and without waiting for any formal communication from this Honble Court, at about 1.30 PM I immediately called for the withdrawal of the resolution dated 24.09.2007 passed by the Democratic Progressive Alliance for cessation of work. This was also conveyed to all political parties, which were party to the said Resolution. However, Democratic Progressive Alliance decided to hold a day long fast on 1st October, 2007 to draw attention to the importance of the Sethu Samuthiram Project and for early implementation of the same. I made it clear at that time that the fast was not against the order of this Honble Court. I annex an extract from the Hindu newspaper 1st October, 2007 reporting this (Annexure -R1). I also gave instructions to Government officials to carry out the order of this Honble Court and to ensure that the Bandh did not take place on 1st October, 2007, and that the day long fast undertaken by political parties should not in any way affect the general public or hinder their routine life.Respondent No.5 has taken the stand that at the time of passing of order by this Court, he was in his constituency (Trichy) and on receipt of information about the Courts order, he instructed respondent no.3 to take steps to maintain normalcy in transport services on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.5 has also stated that he had been continuously monitoring the operation of transport services from Trichy and also made efforts to contact the trade unions and instructed them to direct the workers to report for duty in view of withdrawal of call for cessation of work given by Democratic Progressive Alliance.9. In paragraphs 4 and 5 of affidavit dated 26th August, 2008 filed by him, respondent no.6 - Shri T.R. Baalu has resorted to the rhetoric that he has highest respect for the judiciary and he is a strong believer in the independence of the judiciary. In paragraph 7 of the affidavit, respondent no.6 has made a mention of his electoral achievements and averred that the contempt petition has been filed with the sole object of tarnishing his political image in the State and position as Minister in the Central Government. In paragraph 8, respondent no.6 has alleged that by filing petition before this Court, the petitioner which is the main opposition party in the State is trying to indirectly achieve which it could not achieve in the political arena. Respondent No.6 has then given his own interpretation of the term bandh and averred that he did not participate in any activity which can be described as a bandh. In paragraph 11 of the affidavit, respondent no.6 has averred that nothing in the quoted speech constitutes participation in bandh or instigating others to do so and whatever he said was legitimate exercise of freedom of speech. In paragraph 12, respondent no.6 has claimed that the newspaper report regarding his speech is not accurate and words have been put in his mouth which were not uttered by him.10. Arguments in the case were heard on 11.11.2008 and concluded on 12.11.2008 qua the alleged contemnor nos.1 to 5. However, the case was adjourned to 10.12.2008 to enable the petitioner to file additional affidavit in relation to respondent no.6 with liberty to the latter to file reply within two weeks. On the next date, i.e., 10.12.2008, the Court considered an application made on behalf of the petitioner for summoning the tapes of the speech allegedly made by respondent no.6 on 1.10.2007 at Chennai and ordered issue of notice to the Resident Managers of Times Now Channel and Jaya T.V. requiring them to produce the tapes and original chips of the speech. Notices were also issued to Dhanya Rajendran and M. Ramasubramanian (reporters) and Manish Dhanani, Y. Jayaprakash and S. Ravikumar (camera persons of Times Now Channel and Jaya T.V. respectively).11. In response to the Courts notice, Shri M. Vasudev Rao, authorised signatory of Times Global Broadcasting Company Limited, which is running Times Now Channel, sent letter dated 16th January, 2009 stating therein that the company is unable to provide the original tapes and news clips of the speech delivered by respondent no.6 because in terms of the Up linking and Down linking Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, the company maintains a record of the contents uplinked and downlinked by its channel for a period of 90 days from the date of its telecast. After taking note of that letter, the Court allowed further time to the parties to file affidavits.12. In furtherance of the liberty given by the Court, the petitioner filed affidavits of S/Shri M. Ramasubramanian, S. Ravikumar and R. Thillai, who were working as Reporter, Assistant Camera Person and Senior Sub-Editor respectively with Jaya T.V. on 1.10.2007. In his affidavit, Shri M. Ramasubramanian has claimed that he was deputed to cover the hunger strike organized by DMK and other allied parties on 1.10.2007 in front of the State Guest House, Chepauk, Chennai. He has then averred that he along with Shri Ravikumar (camera person) and Shri Satish (camera assistant) went to cover the events and that he was present at the venue where respondent no.6 made speech and Ravikumar recorded the speech which was in Tamil with sentences/phrases in English. According to Ramasubramanian, speeches of respondent no.6, Shri D. Raja of C.P.I. and Shri K. Veeramani of Dravida Kazhagam only were recorded and the original tapes were handed over to Shri R. Thillai. According to Shri S. Ravikumar, he accompanied by Shri Satish went to the venue of the hunger strike and recorded the speeches made by three persons and, thereafter, original tapes were handed over to Shri R. Thillai. In his affidavit, Shri R. Thillai has stated that Jaya T.V. shoots visuals on cameras using DV tapes and so far the channel has not shifted to the digital format and whenever visuals are brought by the reporting team, the same are ingested into the visual editing system called Avid and, thereafter, the tapes are reused for recording other events. Paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of the affidavit of Shri R. Thillai, contain the followingIt may be noted that the original tapes on which the visuals are recorded upon being ingested into the avid system as aforesaid and after the necessary visuals are taken, are re-used for recording other subsequent events. In the process, the left out visuals of a previous recording are erased since new recordings are made over the same. The tapes are re-cycled in this manner and not retained in view of commercial and operational compulsions.e. Some of the original recordings are transferred on to separate DV tapes or DVDs for archival purposes as for example, file shots of certain important events so that they could be used for future purposes. The news bulletins, as telecast over the channel, are stored in the DVD format in the library.f. That the protests organized by the DMK and its allies on 1.10.2007 by way of the hunger strike at Chennai was covered by the reporting team of Mr. Ramasubramanian and Mr. S. Ravikumar and Camera assistant Satish. They had handed over to me the original tapes containing the events recorded including the speech made by Mr. T.R. Baalu, Union Minister for Shipping and of certain other speakers during the afternoon on 1.10.2007. On my instructions, the news branch technicians ingested the contents of the original tapes containing the events covered including the speech of Mr. T.R. Baalu, into the Avid system. From this, I selected the portions in the speech of Mr. Baalu which were most objectionable and found appropriate to be telecast. Accordingly, the portions were selected and telecast in the news bulletin carried by the channel on 1.10.2007 at 7.30 PM and on 2.10.2007 at 7.30 PM. The portions of the speech as telecast on the news bulletins clearly show the speech made by Mr. T.R. Baalu and the objectionable statements made by him, the translations of which read as follows:"A Judge is a judge till yesterday. Today there are allegations against him. Every day a list of corruption charges are coming out from Delhi. What does that mean? Is a person who was honest till yesterday dishonest today? The nation has not forgotten the fact that such people are also judges. When has there been [hearing] on a Sunday? Something unprecedented is happening. Why is there a provision for impeachment in the Constitution? Our M.Ps are all sitting here. We should also think about it. There is nothing wrong about it. Our MPs must know about it. Including Ministers. Everybody can signnews bulletins as telecast is submitted before this Honble Court in the form of a DVD which is filed as Annexure A/1 to this affidavit."In the last paragraph of his affidavit which is again marked as (f), Shri R. Thillai has stated asThat I submit therefore that the original tape containing the speech of Mr. T.R. Baalu is not available. Nevertheless, the news bulletins telecast by the channel containing the objectionable portions of his speech are presented before this Honble Court.In an apparent bid to pressurize the Central Government to expedite implementation of Sethu Samudram Project, Democratic Progressive Alliance comprising Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India and Pattali Makkal Katchi, passed a resolution on 24.9.2007 to resort to total cessation of work and closure of shops on 1.10.2007 and to conduct a general meeting of the leaders of all parties on 30.9.2007 at Chennai. The relevant portions of the resolution are extractedThe petitioner challenged the afore-mentioned resolution in Writ Petition No.31435 of 2007 filed before Madras High Court and prayed that the call given by the political parties for organizing bandh in the State of Tamil Nadu either on 1.10.2007 or any other day may be declared as violative of Articles 19 and 21 and the Directive Principles of the State Policy and fundamental duties embodied and enumerated in the Constitution of India. Shri Subramania Swamy of Janta Party, Shri K.R. Ramaswamy @ Traffic Ramaswamy (founder Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Social Workers Association, Chennai) and Shri R. Balasubramanian also filed Writ Petition Nos.31478, 31462 and 31631 of 2007 with similar prayers.2.3. Along with the writ petition, the petitioner filed two miscellaneous petitions with the prayer that a direction be issued to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam represented by its President M. Karunanidhi (Respondent No.4 in the contempt petition) to deposit a sum of Rs.100 crore with the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu on or before 28.9.2007 which could be utilized to compensate the damage caused to the general public and the five political parties be restrained from proceeding with the call for bandh in the State in terms of resolution dated 24.9.2007.2.4. After hearing counsel for the parties, the High Court admitted the writ petitions and issued the following directions to the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, District Collectors and other officers of theg dissatisfied with the High Courts order, the petitioner filed S.L.P.(C) No.18879 of 2007 in this Court. The same was heard on 30.9.2007. The counsel representing respondent nos.1 to 3, who volunteered to appear, also made their submissions. After considering the respective submissions, this Court passed a detailed order, the relevant portions of which are reproducedEven before filing of writ petition by the petitioner, the then Chief Secretary of the State - Shri L.K. Tripathi (respondent No.1 herein) directed that the concerned officers be asked to take steps necessary for maintaining essential services and for providing protection to important offices and establishments apart from markets and business places. The instructions given by the Chief Secretary were circulated vide telefax No.SR.II/50641/2007 dated 27.9.2007, the relevant portions of which are extractedn coming to know of this Courts order through electronic media, respondent No.1 directed that telephonic instructions be given to all the Collectors to convene meetings with the respective Superintendents of Police for ensuring that law and order and public tranquility are maintained.2.8. The Courts order was officially communicated to respondent no.1 on the same day i.e., 30.9.2007 at about 10.30 p.m. by fax. The latter immediately forwarded the same to respondent no.2 for taking necessary action. In turn, respondent No.2 directed the concerned police officers that steps should be taken for facilitating unobstructed movement of public transport and maintenance of essential services like water and electricity supply, milk distribution, telephone and telecommunication service, fire service, hospitals and protection be given to Central Government offices, courts, bus stands, railway stations, banks, market places, shops, industrial establishments, etc. These directions were conveyed to Zonal Inspector Generals of Police and Commissioners of Police by Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) vide fax dated 1.10.2007 which was sent between 11.28 p.m. on 30.9.2007 and 6.30 a.m. on 1.10.2007. The contents of that fax are reproduced below:-Datee Secretary to Government, Public (SC) Department also sent fax No.SR.II/5064-5/2007 dated 1.10.2007 to all the District Collectors at 11.25 a.m. requiring them to send hourly reports to the Chief Secretarys Control Room regarding the law and order situation, movement, transport, functioning of essential services, functioning of schools and colleges, opening of shops, hotels and other public utilities, attendance in Government offices etc.3. On 3.10.2007, the petitioner filed this petition under Article 129 of the Constitution of India read with the 1971 Act and prayed that the respondents be punished for violation and disobedience of the Courts order dated 30.9.2007. The gravamen of the petitioners allegation is that in complete disregard of the restraint order passed by this Court, the concerned political parties including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam enforced the bandh in the entire State by ensuring that buses owned by the State Transport Corporation are kept off the road and shops and other business establishments remain closed; that 45,000 private buses were also not allowed to ply on that day; that shops and other business establishments were forcibly closed by the cadres of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and that the State machinery did not take any action to ensure functioning of public transport system and opening of the shops etc. It is also the petitioners case that even though 50,000 employees of the State Transport Corporation came forward to carry out their duties but they were prevented from entering the bus depots by the Depot Managers, Supervisor, etc. on the instructions of higher authorities and even the main gates of many bus terminals were closed and locked. To substantiate these allegations, the petitioner has placed on record the photographs collectively marked as Annexure P-5 and the telegrams which are said to have been sent by Shri K.K. Madeswaran, C. Sengottaiyan and M.A. Paneerselvam to Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporation, representation made by A.J. Selvaraj, Anna Trade Union Secretary, Radhapuram Taluk. In paragraph 14 of the Contempt Petition, it has been averred that several workers of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party moved in various vantage areas of the State with deadly and lethal weapons to ensure that no business or commercial activity was done on 1.10.2007 and whoever opened the shop was forced to down the shutters. It has been further averred that in Chennai, a restaurant at Arterial Mount Road was attacked and looted and many other shops and restaurants were ransacked and eatables were thrown out and bottles were broken, but the police remained mute spectators. In support of these averments, the petitioner placed on record copies of various newspapers. In paragraph 23, a reference has been made to the speech allegedly made by respondent No.6, Shri T.R. Balu, Union Minister for Shipping and Surface Transport, at the venue of the hunger strike on 1.10.2007 and it has been averred that the same was calculated to scandalize judiciary in general and order dated 30.9.2007 in particular. The relevant portions of the speech allegedly made by respondent no.6, which is said to have been published in the newspapers and also telecast on the television channels are extractede want to conduct a Bandh in a democratic manner to ensure speedy implementation of this Project, the Supreme Court is injuncting the same. Are judgments being delivered correctly in the Courts? If that is so, why are higher courts granting stay of orders of lower Courts?If judges are not making mistakes why are there conflicting judgments? Today there are many complaints against many judges. Corruption charges are appearing everyday. What does that mean? If they were upright yesterday, does it mean that they are not upright now? When was a sitting ever held on a Sunday? Unprecedented things are taking place.We are expressing our feelings. How many complaints are received against judges? There is provision in law for impeachment of sitting judges. The MPs sitting here should also think about it. Nothing wrong about it. Our MPs, including the ministers should know about it. Everyone including the ministers can sign it.In paragraph 7 of the reply affidavit filed by him, respondent no.1 has averred that after telecast of the news about the restraint order passed by the Court, telephonic instructions were issued to the District Collectors to maintain law and order and public peace. In para 8 of the affidavit, respondent no.1 has averred that immediately on receipt of the Courts order, a copy thereof was sent to respondent no.2 with suitable instructions to take necessary action and within the available time the police force was mobilized and bandobust was provided to all vital installations, State and Central Government offices, educational institutions, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation depots, bus stands, railway stations, airports, markets, places of worship, hospitals, important junctions, business areas and other places where people used to congregate and bandobust was also provided to the industrial establishments for their smooth functioning and pickets were posted at all sensitive places to avert law and order problems. According to respondent No.1, effective patrols and mobiles were organized for ensuring free flow of traffic in the State and open line patrols were deputed for keeping watch on the railway tracks; all the courts including the Madras High Court were given sufficient protection; vehicle checks were organized to prevent the movement of anti-social elements and trouble mongers and rowdy elements were detained under preventive measures. Respondent No.1 has claimed that on 1.10.2007 all the Courts functioned normally and movement of trains and other essential services were maintained without any obstruction. As regards transport services, respondent no.1 has averred that less number of Government transport services operated in the early morning but with the passage of time around 2749 routes were made operational.5. In his affidavit, respondent no.2, Shri P. Rajendran, has detailed the steps taken for ensuring presence of police at various important places for maintaining law and order and movement of transport services. He has denied that workers of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party had forcibly closed business establishments and shops by wielding lethal and deadly weapons for the purpose of conveying threats to the public.6. In his affidavit, respondent no.3 - Shri Debendranath Sarangi has given an account of the steps taken for ensuring normal operation of State Transport Services. In paragraphs 11 of the affidavit, respondent no.3 has averred that senior officers, i.e., Branch Managers and Divisional Managers of various State Transport Undertakings were instructed to ensure normal operation of buses on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.3 has then averred that the officers were on duty on 1.10.2007 and adequate police bandobust was provided at the Depots, but most of the crew did not turn up in the morning on 1.10.2007 and even those who came did not enter the Depot premises, did not sign the duty chart and dispersed after holding demonstration in front of the Depots; that the Branch Managers and Divisional Managers made efforts to operate the bus services with the help of available crew and with the passage of time the number of services substantially increased. Respondent No.3 has denied that the Drivers and Conductors were prevented from carrying out their duties or that the conductors did not issue tickets or that the main gates of bus terminals were closed and locked. He has also denied receipt of any representation or telegram. In para 15 of the affidavit, respondent No.3 has referred to the call given by the trade unions to abstain from work in the wake of decision taken by the political parties and averred that even though the latter withdrew the call for cessation of work, there was no corresponding response from the trade unions due to paucity of time and also due to the fact that most of the workers had left for outside places taking advantage of the impending strike and two days holidays. Respondent No.3 has also stated that the crew members who did not attend the duty on 01.10.2007 have not been paid the wages as per the policy "no work no pay". Respondent No.3 has controverted the petitioners assertion that daily collection of the Transport Corporations is over Rs.10 crores. According to him, the average collection of the Transport Corporations is Rs.7.5 crores per day, which is reduced to half on any holiday and less than half in the event of continuous holidays for 3-4 days. According to respondent No.3, total collection on 1.10.2007 was Rs.483 lakhs. Lastly, respondent no.3 has averred that in observance of the order of this Court necessary instructions were given to Managing Directors of all the State Transport Corporations to ply buses and send reply by Fax.7. Respondent No.4, Shri M. Karunanidhi, has come up with the plea that initially he was advised to adopt the counter affidavits of respondent nos.1 and 2 and a statement to that effect was made before the Court on 4.8.2008 by the advocate representing the State of Tamil Nadu but, later on, he decided to file a separate counter affidavit. In paragraph 3 of the affidavit, respondent No.4 has given the background in which decision was taken by Democratic Progressive Alliance comprising major political parties in Tamil Nadu to demonstrate their concern on the delay in implementation of Sethu Samudram Project by observing cessation of work between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.4 has then averred that on the basis of reports appearing in the TV news channels and after verifying the facts from counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No.3 in the special leave petition, he gave a call at about 1.30 p.m. for withdrawal of resolution dated 24.9.2007 and this was conveyed to the concerned political parties. According to respondent No.3, instructions were given to the government officials to carry out the Courts order and ensure that the bandh did not take place on 1.10.2007 and the fast undertaken by political parties should not, in any way, affect the general public or hinder their routine life. For the sake of convenience, paragraph 7 of the affidavit of respondent no.4 is reproducede order passed by this Honble Court was communicated to the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu by FAX at 10.30 PM by the Registrar of this Court on 30.09.2007. Even before the order was officially communicated, it was flashed in the TV News channels. After verifying with counsel at New Delhi and without waiting for any formal communication from this Honble Court, at about 1.30 PM I immediately called for the withdrawal of the resolution dated 24.09.2007 passed by the Democratic Progressive Alliance for cessation of work. This was also conveyed to all political parties, which were party to the said Resolution. However, Democratic Progressive Alliance decided to hold a day long fast on 1st October, 2007 to draw attention to the importance of the Sethu Samuthiram Project and for early implementation of the same. I made it clear at that time that the fast was not against the order of this Honble Court. I annex an extract from the Hindu newspaper 1st October, 2007 reporting this (Annexure -R1). I also gave instructions to Government officials to carry out the order of this Honble Court and to ensure that the Bandh did not take place on 1st October, 2007, and that the day long fast undertaken by political parties should not in any way affect the general public or hinder their routine life.Respondent No.5 has taken the stand that at the time of passing of order by this Court, he was in his constituency (Trichy) and on receipt of information about the Courts order, he instructed respondent no.3 to take steps to maintain normalcy in transport services on 1.10.2007. Respondent No.5 has also stated that he had been continuously monitoring the operation of transport services from Trichy and also made efforts to contact the trade unions and instructed them to direct the workers to report for duty in view of withdrawal of call for cessation of work given by Democratic Progressive Alliance.9. In paragraphs 4 and 5 of affidavit dated 26th August, 2008 filed by him, respondent no.6 - Shri T.R. Baalu has resorted to the rhetoric that he has highest respect for the judiciary and he is a strong believer in the independence of the judiciary. In paragraph 7 of the affidavit, respondent no.6 has made a mention of his electoral achievements and averred that the contempt petition has been filed with the sole object of tarnishing his political image in the State and position as Minister in the Central Government. In paragraph 8, respondent no.6 has alleged that by filing petition before this Court, the petitioner which is the main opposition party in the State is trying to indirectly achieve which it could not achieve in the political arena. Respondent No.6 has then given his own interpretation of the term bandh and averred that he did not participate in any activity which can be described as a bandh. In paragraph 11 of the affidavit, respondent no.6 has averred that nothing in the quoted speech constitutes participation in bandh or instigating others to do so and whatever he said was legitimate exercise of freedom of speech. In paragraph 12, respondent no.6 has claimed that the newspaper report regarding his speech is not accurate and words have been put in his mouth which were not uttered by him.10. Arguments in the case were heard on 11.11.2008 and concluded on 12.11.2008 qua the alleged contemnor nos.1 to 5. However, the case was adjourned to 10.12.2008 to enable the petitioner to file additional affidavit in relation to respondent no.6 with liberty to the latter to file reply within two weeks. On the next date, i.e., 10.12.2008, the Court considered an application made on behalf of the petitioner for summoning the tapes of the speech allegedly made by respondent no.6 on 1.10.2007 at Chennai and ordered issue of notice to the Resident Managers of Times Now Channel and Jaya T.V. requiring them to produce the tapes and original chips of the speech. Notices were also issued to Dhanya Rajendran and M. Ramasubramanian (reporters) and Manish Dhanani, Y. Jayaprakash and S. Ravikumar (camera persons of Times Now Channel and Jaya T.V. respectively).11. In response to the Courts notice, Shri M. Vasudev Rao, authorised signatory of Times Global Broadcasting Company Limited, which is running Times Now Channel, sent letter dated 16th January, 2009 stating therein that the company is unable to provide the original tapes and news clips of the speech delivered by respondent no.6 because in terms of the Up linking and Down linking Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, the company maintains a record of the contents uplinked and downlinked by its channel for a period of 90 days from the date of its telecast. After taking note of that letter, the Court allowed further time to the parties to file affidavits.12. In furtherance of the liberty given by the Court, the petitioner filed affidavits of S/Shri M. Ramasubramanian, S. Ravikumar and R. Thillai, who were working as Reporter, Assistant Camera Person and Senior Sub-Editor respectively with Jaya T.V. on 1.10.2007. In his affidavit, Shri M. Ramasubramanian has claimed that he was deputed to cover the hunger strike organized by DMK and other allied parties on 1.10.2007 in front of the State Guest House, Chepauk, Chennai. He has then averred that he along with Shri Ravikumar (camera person) and Shri Satish (camera assistant) went to cover the events and that he was present at the venue where respondent no.6 made speech and Ravikumar recorded the speech which was in Tamil with sentences/phrases in English. According to Ramasubramanian, speeches of respondent no.6, Shri D. Raja of C.P.I. and Shri K. Veeramani of Dravida Kazhagam only were recorded and the original tapes were handed over to Shri R. Thillai. According to Shri S. Ravikumar, he accompanied by Shri Satish went to the venue of the hunger strike and recorded the speeches made by three persons and, thereafter, original tapes were handed over to Shri R. Thillai. In his affidavit, Shri R. Thillai has stated that Jaya T.V. shoots visuals on cameras using DV tapes and so far the channel has not shifted to the digital format and whenever visuals are brought by the reporting team, the same are ingested into the visual editing system called Avid and, thereafter, the tapes are reused for recording other events. Paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of the affidavit of Shri R. Thillai, contain the followingIt may be noted that the original tapes on which the visuals are recorded upon being ingested into the avid system as aforesaid and after the necessary visuals are taken, are re-used for recording other subsequent events. In the process, the left out visuals of a previous recording are erased since new recordings are made over the same. The tapes are re-cycled in this manner and not retained in view of commercial and operational compulsions.e. Some of the original recordings are transferred on to separate DV tapes or DVDs for archival purposes as for example, file shots of certain important events so that they could be used for future purposes. The news bulletins, as telecast over the channel, are stored in the DVD format in the library.f. That the protests organized by the DMK and its allies on 1.10.2007 by way of the hunger strike at Chennai was covered by the reporting team of Mr. Ramasubramanian and Mr. S. Ravikumar and Camera assistant Satish. They had handed over to me the original tapes containing the events recorded including the speech made by Mr. T.R. Baalu, Union Minister for Shipping and of certain other speakers during the afternoon on 1.10.2007. On my instructions, the news branch technicians ingested the contents of the original tapes containing the events covered including the speech of Mr. T.R. Baalu, into the Avid system. From this, I selected the portions in the speech of Mr. Baalu which were most objectionable and found appropriate to be telecast. Accordingly, the portions were selected and telecast in the news bulletin carried by the channel on 1.10.2007 at 7.30 PM and on 2.10.2007 at 7.30 PM. The portions of the speech as telecast on the news bulletins clearly show the speech made by Mr. T.R. Baalu and the objectionable statements made by him, the translations of which read as follows:"A Judge is a judge till yesterday. Today there are allegations against him. Every day a list of corruption charges are coming out from Delhi. What does that mean? Is a person who was honest till yesterday dishonest today? The nation has not forgotten the fact that such people are also judges. When has there been [hearing] on a Sunday? Something unprecedented is happening. Why is there a provision for impeachment in the Constitution? Our M.Ps are all sitting here. We should also think about it. There is nothing wrong about it. Our MPs must know about it. Including Ministers. Everybody can signnews bulletins as telecast is submitted before this Honble Court in the form of a DVD which is filed as Annexure A/1 to this affidavit."In the last paragraph of his affidavit which is again marked as (f), Shri R. Thillai has stated ast I submit therefore that the original tape containing the speech of Mr. T.R. Baalu is not available. Nevertheless, the news bulletins telecast by the channel containing the objectionable portions of his speech are presented before this Honble Court.To the above noted 3 affidavits, respondent no.6 has filed a reply on 21.3.2009. The thrust of his reply is that Jaya T.V. is controlled by AIADMK party on whose behalf the contempt petition has been filed and, therefore, it cannot be treated as an independent media and that failure of the management of Jaya T.V. to produce tapes and original chip of the speech allegedly made by respondent no.6 should be treated as sufficient for rejecting the affidavits. In paragraphs 7 to 12 of the reply, it has been averred that the petitioner has produced before the Court a truncated, edited and doctored version of the telecast made by Jaya T.V. channel, and the same is liable to be discarded because the full and correct version of the speech made by respondent no.6 has been erased and the original tape containing the speech has not been produced.14. In the light of 3 affidavits filed on behalf of the petitioner and counter filed by respondent no.6, further arguments were heard on 25.3.2009 and judgment was reserved.

Reasoning: 27. In the light of the above, we shall now consider whether respondent nos.1 to 5 can be said to have willfully disobeyed order dated 30.9.2007. At the cost of repetition, we consider it necessary to point out that while issuing notice in Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.18879 of 2007, this Court restrained the political parties from proceeding with the call for bandh in the State of Tamil Nadu on 1.10.2007 pursuant to resolution dated 24.9.2007 or any other day. The language of the restraint order is unambiguous. The prohibitive injunction contained therein was explicitly directed against the political parties and not against respondent nos. 1 to 3. The Court did not direct respondent nos. 1 to 3 to act in any particular manner or take certain specific steps to meet the challenge likely to be posed by implementation of the call given by Democratic Progressive Alliance. This was so because the Court could not have presumed that the restraint order passed by it will be disregarded or flouted by the political parties. Therefore, respondent nos.1 to 3 cannot, per se, be held guilty of disobeying or violating the Courts order dated 30th September, 2007 and punished for committing contempt of court as defined in Section 2(b) of the 1971 Act.28. No doubt, the petitioners have repeatedly asserted that the buses of State Transport Corporations and 45000 private buses remained off the road on 1.10.2007 causing serious inconvenience to the general public and loss of revenue to the tune of Rs.10 crores, but their assertion is partly belied by the counter affidavits of respondent nos.1 to 3, wherein all the officers have detailed the reasons for operation of less number of buses in the initial hours on 1.10.2007 and the fact that revenue collection of the day was to the tune of Rs.4.83 crores. In his affidavit, respondent no.1 has categorically averred that during the course of the day 2749 routes were made operational. The affidavits of the official respondents also reveal that despite instructions issued to various functionaries, normal transport services could not be made available on account of the support extended to resolution dated 24.9.2007 by the trade unions affiliated to the political parties and the fact that large number of employees had gone on leave thinking that the services may not operate in the wake of the call given by the political parties and three holidays. This has not been controverted by the petitioners. The photographs produced by petitionerAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam do show empty streets, but the same cannot be made basis for recording a finding of guilt against respondent nos. 1 to 3, more so because the petitioners have not produced any evidence to prima facie establish that the transport services did not at all operate in the State on 1.10.2007 and that too on account of any action or omission on the part of respondent nos. 1 to 3. This being the position, it is not possible to record a finding that respondent nos. 1 to 3 or for that reason respondent no.5 deliberately disobeyed or violated the direction given by this Court.29. The petitioners have also not placed on record any evidence to show that despite restraint order passed by the Court on 30.9.2007, the political parties constituting Democratic Progressive Alliance resorted to strike or bandh. They have not even disputed that after coming to know about the Courts order, respondent no.4 made a statement at 1.30 p.m. withdrawing resolution dated 24.9.2007 which contained a call for cessation of work on 1.10.2007. If, despite statement of respondent no.4, which was made known to the public, the shops and business establishments remained closed and the private transport operators did not consider it proper to operate their services on 1.10.2007, respondent nos.1 to 3 cannot be held to have deliberately disobeyed the Courts order.30. The argument of Shri S. Guru Krishna Kumar that respondent no.4 should be held guilty of contempt because the Government did not issue written instructions to the officers to take steps for maintaining the essential services and to ensure that public life is not disrupted on account of the call for bandh and the workers of his party coerced the people to close the commercial and business establishments is being mentioned only to be rejected. The bald statement contained in the contempt petitions that violence and coercion was resorted to by members of the party headed by respondent no.4 has remained unsubstantiated because except the newspaper reports no material has been produced before the Court giving the names and other relevant particulars of the persons who are said to have indulged in forced closure of shops and business establishments on 1.10.2007 and no other evidence has been produced to show that respondent no.4 had, directly or indirectly, encouraged the members of his party to enforce the call for cessation of work which has been prima facie treated by the Courts as call for bandh. Therefore, respondent no.4 cannot be accused of having engineered violation of the Courts order.31. Insofar as respondent no.6 is concerned, we find that the only material produced by the petitioner in Contempt Petition No. 262 of 2007 is in the form of zerox copies of newspapers and tape of the edited version of speech which is said to have been telecast on Jaya T.V. on 1.10.2007 and 2.10.2007. The petitioner in Contempt Petition No. 327 of 2007 has also produced zerox copies of some newspapers. In his first affidavit, respondent no.6 has claimed that the newspapers have reported something by putting in his mouth which he did not speak. In his second affidavit filed in the form of reply to the affidavits of S/Shri M. Ramasubramanian, S. Ravikumar and R. Thillai, respondent no.6 has alleged that what was telecast on Jaya T.V. was the doctored version of his speech. This being the position, the petitioners were duty bound to produce some primary evidence to prove the contents of the speech made by respondent no.6 scandalizing judiciary in general and this Courts order dated 30th September, 2007 in particular. The zerox copies of the newspapers in which the contents of speech made by respondent no.6 have been published cannot be relied upon because the petitioners have not filed affidavits of those who covered the meeting held by the political parties in front of Chepauk Guest House on 1.10.2007 and heard the speech made by respondent no.6. If such affidavits had been filed, respondent no.6 could have been called upon to explain his position. Likewise, the original tape containing telecast of the speech made by respondent no.6 has not been made available to the Court.The judgments on which reliance has been placed by Shri S. Guru Krishna Kumar do not have any direct bearing on this case. In A. Sanjeevi Naidus case, the Court interpreted the provisions of Section 68C of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 and held that when a civil servant takes a decision, he does not do it as a delegate of his Minister but on behalf of the Government, though it is always open to a Minister to call for any file in his office and pass order or issue directions to the officers in his Ministry regarding the disposal of Government business generally or as regards any specified case. In Azhar Ali Khans case, the Court held that compliance of orders or directions given by Court to Government or its instrumentalities cannot be avoided merely on ground of inability to comply with its own resolution passed in the face of those clear orders or directions. In T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpads case it was found that the Minister and Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, Government of Maharashtra have brazenly and willfully flouted the Courts directions and granted permission to certain sawmills to recommence their operations and, therefore, they were punished under the 1971 Act. In Mohd. Aslams case, this Court considered the question whether the State and its ministers can be proceeded against in contempt for failure to obey the judicial pronouncements. The facts of the case were that during the month of July, 1992, land measuring 2.77 acres situated in Ayodhya was acquired by the State Government under Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for developing an amenity for pilgrims at Ayodhya. Writ Petition No.1000 of 1991 was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution before this Court questioning the acquisition proceedings. On 15.11.1991, the Court noted that the Chief Minister of the State has made statements in the meeting of the National Integration Council held on 2.11.1991 against the making of construction at the site and accordingly, resolution was passed by the National Integration Council and directed that no construction be made at the site. However, despite the Courts order, construction activities were allowed to be undertaken at the site by Sadhus. It was urged on behalf of the respondents that any coercive/preventive action in the matter of construction of the platform would have triggered an adverse reaction endangering the safety of disputed `Ram JanmaMasjid structure which was situated in immediate vicinity and for whose protection Government stood committed and, therefore, the respondent who was holding the office of the Chief Minister, cannot be held guilty of contempt.In the case before us fact situation is entirely different. As mentioned above, on coming to know of the restraint order passed by this Court, respondent no.4 made a statement for withdrawal of resolution dated 24.9.2007 vide which call was given by five political parties for cessation of work. It is also borne out from the affidavit of respondent no.1 that on 24.9.2007 itself the said respondent had issued instructions to all the officers to ensure that law and order and essential services are maintained and the general public is not inconvenienced due to the call given by political parties for cessation of work. On 30.9.2007, respondent nos.1 to 3 gave detailed instructions to all the officers to ensure that the public is not put to harassment, the government and private properties are not damaged, supplies of essential services like water, electricity, telecom, railways etc. are not disrupted, supply of milk etc. is maintained and business and other commercial establishments are provided protection. Efforts were also made to ensure that operation of transport services is not affected. Respondent no.5 had monitored operation undertaken by the departmental authorities for restoring normal operation by the State Transport Corporation. It is, thus, evident that respondent nos. 1 to 5 did not disobey the restraint order passed by this Court and respondent nos. 1 to 3 took all the steps necessary for preventing any disruption of public services and inconvenience to the general public. It is a different thing that in the wake of hunger strike by leaders of political parties, the business community did not consider it proper to open shops etc. Therefore, the ratio of Mohd. Aslams case and other precedents referred to in that judgment cannot be applied to this case for framing charges against respondent nos.1 to 5 on the premise that they have committed contempt within the meaning of Section 2(b) of the 1971 Act.42. Insofar as respondent no.6 is concerned, charge cannot be framed against him with reference to Section 2(c) of 1971 Act because the petitioners have not produced any legally admissible evidence to prove the contents of the speech allegedly made by the said respondent. The judgments in Aswini Kumar Ghose v. Arabinda Bose (supra) and E.M. Sankaran Namboodripad v. T. Narayanan Nambiar (supra) do not have any bearing on this case and, therefore, we do not consider it necessary to deal with the same.