Skip to main content

Legrand Judg BHC 2007

In the case of Legrand (India) Private Limited Versus Union Of India [2008 (2) BCR 387 : 2007 (6) MhLj 146], the Bombay High Court have held that the Public authorities / persons may be held guilty of contempt of the Court, if, in the regular discharge of their duties, they knowingly disregard the law laid down by the said Court.

It is a case where, despite being specifically brought to the knowledge of the law being laid down by the Bombay High Court, the Public officer acted in breach of the law laid down; and the High Court, in the Writ jurisdiction, initiated Contempt proceedings against the said officer.

The Court held that –
(a) It is immaterial that in a previous litigation the particular petitioner before the Court was or was not a party, but if a law on a particular point has been laid down by the High Court, it must be followed by all authorities and tribunals in the State;

(b) The law laid down by the High Court must be followed by all authorities and subordinate tribunals when it has been declared by the highest Court in the State and they cannot ignore it either in initiating proceedings or deciding on the rights involved in such a proceeding;

(c) If inspite of the earlier exposition of law by the High Court having been pointed out and attention being pointedly drawn to that legal position, in utter disregard of that position, proceedings are initiated, it must be held to be a wilful disregard of the law laid down by the High Court and would amount to civil contempt as defined in S. 2 (b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.


Sandeep Jalan

Advocate

Law Referencer: https://www.vakeelkanumber.com/

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fraud / Misleading the Courts

AIR 2007 SC 1546 Para 21:  Now, it is well settled principle of law that if any judgment or order is obtained by fraud, it cannot be said to be a judgment or order in law. Before three centuries, Chief Justice Edward Coke proclaimed; "Fraud avoids all judicial acts, ecclesiastical or temporal". Para 22:  It is thus settled proposition of law that a judgment, decree or order obtained by playing fraud on the Court, Tribunal or Authority is a nullity and non est in the eye of law. Such a judgment, decree or order by the first Court or by the final Court has to be treated as nullity by every Court, superior or inferior. It can be challenged in any Court, at any time, in appeal, revision, writ or even in collateral proceedings. Para 23:  In the leading case of Lazarus Estates Ltd. V/s. Beasley, 1956 1 AllER 341, Lord Denning observed: "No judgment of a court, no order of a Minister, can be allowed to stand, if it has been obtained by fraud."
9 comments
Read more

Prescribed procedure must be followed

2015 (3) SCC 624 Para 22:  Procedural norms, technicalities and processal law evolve after years of empirical experience, and to ignore them or give them short shrift inevitably defeats justice. ……..Laws of procedure have picturesquely been referred to as handmaidens to justice, but this does not mean that they can be wantonly ignored because, if so done, a miscarriage of justice inevitably and inexorably ensues. Statutory law and processal law are two sides of the judicial drachma, each being the obverse of the other. In the case in hand, had the Tenant diligently filed an appeal against the decree at least in respect of O.S. 5/78, the legal conundrum that has manifested itself and exhausted so much judicial time, would not have arisen at all. 2014 (2) SCC 401 Para 34: There is yet an uncontroverted legal principle that when the statute provides for a particular procedure, the authority has to follow the same and cannot be permitted to act in contravention o
Post a Comment
Read more

Arbitrariness

The act of “arbitrariness” may ordinarily mean, exercise of powers or exercise of discretion, according to one whims and personal choices, taking into considerations the irrelevant factors, not taking into considerations the factors which should have been considered whilst taking decisions or whilst acting, or acting in disregard of express statutory mandate or acting in disregard of legal principles or in disregard of any principle or logic, common sense or fairness. Arbitrariness is violence to common sense of a prudent man. When discretion is assumed absolute, man has always suffered. The Rule of law prohibits arbitrary action and also makes it liable to be invalidated. The expression “Rule of Law” may have varied dimensions, and the most apt explanation to this expression appears to be, “The People have an absolute / unqualified right to be Ruled / governed/ regulated by Law, and not by individual whims and fancies”. This is also in fact and precisely the mandate of Article 1
Post a Comment
Read more