SC EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER LENIENCY TOWARDS CONTEMNORS DEFYING COURT ORDERS

The Supreme Court has expressed concern over a lenient approach taken by judicial institutions, stating that it has emboldened unscrupulous litigants to defy court orders with impunity.

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The court emphasized that when contemnors use the legal system as a "potent weapon" and a "legal trick" to avoid responsibility, courts need not show compassion. A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra made the observation while hearing a case from the Gujarat High Court, where five individuals were sentenced under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 for willfully disobeying an undertaking given to the court in a property dispute in 2015. Despite the undertaking, the appellants executed 13 sale deeds in favor of different parties. The high court sentenced three of them to two months of simple imprisonment and required the other two to pay Rs 1 lakh in lieu of imprisonment. The bench st