LEGAL PRINCIPLE: A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court on the ground that he has published any matter which interferes with or obstructs or tends to obstruct the course of justice in connection with any civil or criminal proceeding pending at the time of the publication, if at that time he had no reasonable grounds for believing that the proceeding was pending. FACTUAL SITUATION: X delivered a lecture at the local Rotary Club in favour of an accused who is prosecuted for assaulting a police officer. He said that the accused is a victim of prevailing corruption in the judiciary and he knows that the accused is going to be punished by the court for being honest. Is X guilty of contempt of court? DECISION will be _____.
A
No, not guilty of contempt of court
B
Yes, guilty of contempt of court
C
Yes, X has dishonoured judiciary
D
No, X is an honest man
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Solution
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Correct option is B)
The 2 essentials according to the principle, to make a person guilty are-
1. He must be aware that the proceedings are pending in the court.
2. There should be a publication in relation to it.
X is guilty of contempt of court as he favored an accused who was being prosecuted for assaulting a police officer. His statement that the accused is going to be punished for being honest by the court shows that he was aware of the pending proceedings against the accused in the court of law.
There was publication since he delivered a lecture about the matter and it interferes with the proceedings pending in the Court.
