Jharkhand High Court closes suo motu contempt case against Advocate General and Additional Advocate General

The Jharkhand High Court recently discharged the State's Advocate General (AG) Rajiv Ranjan and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Sachin Kumar in a suo motu criminal contempt of court case registered in 2021. [Court on its own motion v. Rajiv Ranjan].The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Ambuj Nath said that a High Court while exercising its powers to punish for contempt under Article 215 of the Constitution is required to follow the procedure laid down in the Contempt of Courts Act."There can be no manner of doubt that the writ Court could have passed an order on 13th August 2021 taking cognizance of the conduct of the opposite parties after issuing a show-cause notice and allowing them to explain their conduct. But this mandatory requirement in law was not brought to the notice of the Court on account of which the reference dated 1st September 2021 has been rendered vulnerable," the Court said..Suo motu contempt proceedings were initiated against the AG and the AAG after the former sought the recusal of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi in a matter. The AG pressed for the recusal after he claimed that he overheard an opposing counsel saying that the case will be “allowed 200%”.The judge took exception to the request by the AG and proceeded to record the same in his order.When the judge asked the AG to file his claims in an affidavit, he refused to do so and stated that his oral submissions would be sufficient. The Court then categorically stated that merely on a submission of the Advocate General, it is not required for a judge to recuse from the case.Nevertheless, the judge proceeded to place the matter before the Chief Justice for an administrative decision on listing. The then Chief Justice again placed the matter before the same judge..In an order passed in the matter, Justice Dwivedi noted that the conduct of the two law officers amounted to bullying and threatening the court."Both have sought and bullied the Court and behaved in the manner that the Court felt that they are trying to threaten it. This has been done in open Court in the presence of senior and junior counsels of the bar," the judgment said.The Court added that despite its repeated requests, the AG and AAG have not filed their responses or tendered any apology. This prompted the Court to initiate suo motu contempt of court proceedings against the two law officers..Urging advocates to conduct themselves with dignity, the Court advised,"The responsibility to maintain the rule of law lies equally on the members of the Bar. Any conduct designed to or suggestive of or creating unnecessary controversy in the Court would erode the public confidence in the judicial system and undermine the authority of the Court. Such attempts shall be construed as an intentional attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to deter the Court from performing its duty.".However, it eventually quashed the contempt proceedings after finding that the procedure laid down in the Contempt of Courts Act was not followed. Summing up, it said,"Simply put, without framing a charge and affording an opportunity to the opposite parties to explain their conduct, a reference under section 17 of the Contempt of Courts Act for registering a criminal contempt proceeding against the opposite parties is not maintainable.".Senior Advocate Vijoy Pratap Singh and Advocate Ramit Satender appeared as Amicus Curiae.Senior Advocate Umesh Prasad Singh and Advocates Piyush Chitresh, Surabhi and Ravi Prakash Mishra appeared for the law officers.[Read Judgment]