Karnataka HC Closes Contempt Cases For Now After State Writ Appeals Are Admitted, With Revival Open After Their Disposal

The complainants filed eight civil contempt petitions alleging non-compliance with orders made in their respective writ petitions.

The petitions invoked Sections 11 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 and Article 215 of the Constitution; some also referred to subsequent orders in review petitions.

The State informed the Court that it had preferred appeals against the relevant orders and that the appeals had been admitted.

The petitions invoked Sections 11 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 and Article 215 of the Constitution, which provide the basis for the High Court’s contempt jurisdiction.

The Court applied the case-specific procedural approach that, in view of the admission of the State’s appeals, the contempt proceedings did not survive for consideration at that stage; it cited no precedent or further legal test.

The Court noted that the State’s appeals against the orders said to have been disobeyed had been admitted.

In light of that development, it concluded that the contempt proceedings did not survive for consideration at that time.

Rather than finally rejecting the petitions, the Court preserved the complainants’ ability to seek their revival after the writ appeals were decided.

It reserved liberty to the complainants to seek revival of the petitions after disposal of the writ appeals.