Delhi High Court has awarded a month's jail term to a man in a criminal contempt case for submitting forged pay orders of Rs 21.50 crore before it, saying if the apology tendered by him after being exposed is accepted, it would render the entire proceeding mere academic.
A bench headed by Justice S Ravindra Bhat convicted Radhey Sham Middha, Managing Director of Chandigarh-based real estate firm Real Pro Assets Ltd, for the offence of criminal contempt after he pleaded guilty and apologised for his act.
"Submission of apology, when exposed and caught, if accepted, would render the contempt proceedings mere academic, thereby diluting the desired effect of deterrence. In the backdrop of the facts in which criminal contempt was committed, these acts of the convicted contemnor cannot be allowed to go unpunished," the bench said.
It said the acts of commission and omission indulged in by the contemnor (Middha) resulted in obstruction of administration of justice.
"The contemnor is, thus, found guilty of criminal contempt of court which is punishable under provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 and is convicted accordingly," the bench said.
The court observed that it appeared that Middha was not alone in the efforts to obstruct judicial proceedings in the manner and seems that some vested interests were active.
"It would indeed be the task of the police investigating the FIR (lodged for forgery), and the court inquiring into the criminal complaint, to unearth the role and identity of such other persons who may have been behind the contemnor in this endeavour," the bench said adding that principles of natural justice should be adhered during the proceedings.
