Contempt Case Against CJP Legal Head Over Remarks Against Magistrate

Criminal contempt proceedings will be started against Ratna Singh, the legal affairs chief of the Cockroach Janata Party over her comments against a Chief Judicial Magistrate of Saket Courts. The approval from the Delhi government's Additional Standing Counsel came after a lawyer sought contempt action.

Singh's posts attract action under the Contempt of Courts Act, the law official said.

The matter is linked to the proceedings before Chief Judicial Magistrate when Ratna Singh approached the court against her detention on October 10, the day of the CJP protest. 

The Additional Standing Counsel said there is a difference between questioning the correctness of a judicial decision and attributing extraneous influences or improper motives to the judge.

Referring to Singh's statements that the judge was "serving the master" and "following order from master", the counsel said these remarks went beyond criticism of the judicial order. He said the expressions prima facie suggested that the judicial officer was acting under instructions from an external authority rather than independently exercising judicial discretion.

Such imputations, the counsel said, struck at the independence and impartiality of the judicial process. Without any supporting factual foundation, they could create an impression that judicial decisions were influenced by extraneous considerations.

Such public allegations are prima facie capable of lowering the authority of the court and undermining public confidence in the legal system.

About Ratna Singh's statements against the SEM who heard the detention case involving Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, Standing Counsel Ashutosh Ranka has said  those statements were directed against the Delhi Police and the SEM and could not be treated as criminal contempt.