The Meghalaya High Court on Friday held the Editor of The Shillong Times Patricia Mukhim and her publisher Shobha Chaudhuri guilty of contempt of court and sentenced them to sit in the corner of the court room till the rising of the court.
Diposing of a case of contempt, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen said, "In exercise of the power vested in us by Article 215 of the Constitution of India, we sentence both the contemnors to sit in the corner of the court room till the rising of the court and impose a fine of Rs 2 lakh each which is to be deposited with the Registry within a week and then to be deposited in the welfare fund of this high court."
In default of the payment, the court said both the contemnors will have to undergo six-month simple imprisonment and the paper will be "banned".
Counsels S. Dey, N. Syngkon, K. Ch Gautam and C.H. Mawlong volunteered as amicus curiae in the case, while K. Paul and S Thapa represented the contemnors.
The contempt proceeding was initiated against the English daily on the basis of two reports published on December 6, 2018 and December 10, 2018 under the caption "When judges judge for themselves" and "High Court pursues retirement benefits to judges, family".
The report had claimed that according to the order, Justice Sen, who incidentally retired on Friday, wanted several provisions for retired chief justices and judges and their spouses and children.
"Besides providing medical facilities for the spouses and children, the order stressed the need for providing protocol, guest houses, domestic help, mobile/internet charge at the rate of Rs 10,000 and mobile for Rs 80,000 for judges", the newspaper said.
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On March 1, Mukhim and Chaudhuri filed two affidavits in the registry without any permission and later tendered unconditional apology, which the court observed to be a "calculated strategy to avoid punishment".
"The contemnors have all along contested the matter and finally the realising that the contest is not in their better interest have tendered unconditional apology at the last moment. The contemnors being responsible persons should not have indulged in the acts falling within the purview of derogation to the administration of justice," the bench noted.
Moreover, the court also found that Mukhim made a derogatory comment.
"When she (Mukhim) was confronted on February 25, 2019 for those remarks, she had no answer," the court noted.
Justice Sen had issued a show-cause notice to Mukhim and Chaudhuri asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against the daily.
--IANS
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