Courts must not show mercy to those violating orders, says SC

People who disobey orders and undertakings given to courts deserve no mercy, the Supreme Court said in a recent ruling, asking courts to show more discretion in accepting apologies which are used as a “potent weapon” and a “legal trick” to wriggle out of responsibility by litigants

- Abraham Thomas

The Court sounded this warning while deciding an appeal of a judgement of the Gujarat high court which sentenced five people under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 for breaching an oral undertaking given to the court in 2015 . The case in question related to the sale of property and the undertaking was to the effect that no sale would be concluded. The high court order of July 13, 2022 sentenced three of the people to two months simple imprisonment and ordered two others to pay a ₹1 lakh in lieu of sentencing. A fine of ₹2,000 was uniformly imposed on all contemnors. Simultaneously, the high court cancelled all sale agreements made in violation of the 2015 undertaking.