Madhya Pradesh High Court imposes ₹1 lakh cost on editor for news report targeting judge

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held the editor of a Hindi newspaper in Gwalior guilty under the Contempt of Courts Act and imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on him for having published a news report against one of its sitting judges in 2011..The Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke also directed Suman Singh Sikarwar, the editor of Dainik Chambal Vani, to pay a fine of ₹2,000 and remain cautious in future."The respondent-contemnor shall pay costs of ₹1,00,000 with the MP High Court Bar Association, Gwalior ... within a period of one month," the Court ordered..The Court said the news item was not in the nature of "mere dispassionate criticism of the judges, their working and their judgments" but contained intemperate language and undesirable expletives."Thus, it appears that it was an intentional attempt made by the respondent-contemnor to scandalise the image of a judge of this Court as well as other judges which clearly falls within the definition of section 2(c) of The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971," the Court held. .In 2011, suo motu contempt of court proceedings had been initiated against Sikarwar after the newspaper 'Dainik Chambal Vani' published a front-page report titled "Sarvoch Nayalaya Aaj Ki Tarah Nishpakch ho jai to Judge Shri Mody Ji Ko Jail Mein Hona Tha".The matter was admitted for hearing in 2014 after transfer from Jabalpur to Gwalior Bench. It was then finally heard on March 14 this year and reserved for decision..In the judgment pronounced on May 6, the Court noted that Sikarwar had attempted to retract the pleadings with regard to merits of the reply filed by him earlier and urged that his offer for an unconditional apology may be accepted instead.However, the Court said there was no "repentance of any kind on his face and just for the sake of apology he had made a regretful acknowledgment of the offence, which appears to this court not bona fide".It added that his act of seeking apology appeared to be insincere as he remained aligned with the allegations against the then sitting judge/judges of the High Court and also attempted to justify his position..From perusal of the reply filed by Sikarwar in 2011, the Court found that he had levelled allegation against Judge Mody as well as the other judges of the Court in a very curt language.The Court also noted that in the initial reply, Sikarwar had even demanded action against the judge and justified the news item."In his reply, nowhere respondent-contemnor had sought any apology and it was only in the reply submitted on 20.6.2011, he had in so many words tried to seek apology and that too in the eventuality if he is held guilty and after leveling several allegations against Judge Shri Mody," the Court noted. .The Court thus rejected Sikarwar's oral offer of unconditional apology and proceeded to pass an order of punishment against him. "We are of the considered view that imposing fine and cost on the respondent Contemnor instead of sending him to jail would be a just and appropriate punishment," it said while directing Sikarwar to pay ₹2,000 fine and ₹1 lakh cost..Additional Advocate General Vivek Khedkar appeared for State..[Read Order]