The Delhi High Court recently sentenced 12 men to a day’s imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2,000 on each of them for beating up court-appointed advocate commissioners tasked with investigating the sale of fake Samsung mobile phones in a Kolkata market [Court on its own motion v Ms Obsession Naaz and Ors].
A Division Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar said that interfering with the work assigned to the advocate commissioners amounts to interference in the administration of justice.
If persons who have interfered with the administration of justice are not dealt with heavy hands, the majesty of law will come down in the eyes of ordinary citizens which will have a deleterious effect on the fabric of society, the Court underscored.
“It is, therefore, imperative; rather, duty of the Court, to ensure that people who interfere in the administration of justice are dealt with severely so that people respect and adhere to law for the rule of law to prevail,” the Court observed.
The Court passed the order while dealing with a suo motu contempt of court case initiated in 2015.
It was stated that the Commissioners were conducting inventories and seizures as directed by the Court in a trademark infringement suit filed by Samsung Electronics.
The High Court was told that despite police protection, the Commissioners faced obstructions, threats and violent assault by a mob of around 200 people, resulting in serious injuries to several advocates and police personnel.
After considering the case, the Court observed that it was yet to be established as to how many of the 200 knew about the court order and how many were mere misguided bystanders s who did not know they were interfering in the administration of justice
Ultimately, the Bench held 12 shopkeepers and their attendants guilty and convicted them.
Advocate Varun Goswami acted as amicus curiae in the matter.
Advocate Amit Ranjan represented Samsung.
Senior Advocate Soumya Chakraborty with Advocate Nandini Sen represented Kolkata Police.
[Read Judgment]