In a recent incident, the Indian Supreme Court has stayed the suo motu criminal contempt proceedings initiated by the Calcutta High Court against police officers allegedly involved in the 2019 Howrah District Court violence incident.
A two-judge bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manmohan passed the interim order while hearing petitions filed by police officers challenging the High Court's May 2, 2025 order. The Court issued a notice on the matter and scheduled the next hearing after six weeks.
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"Issue notice, to be responded to within 6 weeks, in the meantime further proceedings in accordance with the order dated May 2, 2025 shall remain in abeyance." - Supreme Court
Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, representing the petitioners, argued that the main legal question revolves around whether the High Court can initiate suo motu contempt proceedings after a delay of five years under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The State of West Bengal also filed a related special leave petition (SLP) challenging the High Court order.
Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh relied on the 2016 judgment of the Supreme Court in Maheshwar Peri vs Allahabad High Court, where the Court clarified that the limitation period of one year under Section 20 of the Contempt of Courts Act applies to suo motu contempt proceedings by constitutional courts as well.
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"In Maheshwar Peri, the Court held that the limitation period of one year provided in Section 20 of the Contempt of Courts Act also applies to initiation of suo motu contempt proceedings by the Supreme Court or the High Court."
The case relates to an incident on April 24, 2019, in which police officers allegedly entered the Howrah District Sadar Court premises and assaulted several lawyers. Following the incident, the High Court had taken suo motu cognizance and appointed a one-member commission headed by former High Court judge Justice K.J. Sengupta in May 2019 to probe the matter.
Now, nearly five years later, the High Court has resumed the proceedings based on the findings of the commission. It found that its earlier action was inadmissible as a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.
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With regard to the issue of limitation, the Calcutta High Court held that the one-year limitation under Section 20 of the Contempt of Courts Act does not apply to suo motu contempt proceedings.
"In our opinion the bar of limitation as per Section 20 of the 1971 Act is in respect of proceedings initiated by a person for bringing an act of contempt to the notice of the court… the powers under Article 215, where the court had initiated a suo motu writ petition… cannot be abrogated or abrogated."
The Supreme Court's stay has temporarily halted the High Court contempt proceedings. The matter is expected to be heard again after six weeks.
Case Details : VISHAL GARG AND ORS. Versus REGISTRAR GENERAL AND ORS.| SLP(C) No. 16422/2025 and connected matter
