The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 is a statutory Act of the Indian Parliament that consolidates and defines the law relating to contempt of court, providing a framework for the exercise of the constitutional power of the Supreme Court and High Courts to punish for contempt, as granted by Article 129 and Article 215 respectively. The Act was created to replace the earlier Contempt of Courts Act, 1952, following the recommendations of the H.N. Sanyal Committee in 1961, which sought to balance the need to maintain judicial authority with the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
The Act, under Section 2, classifies contempt into two types: Civil Contempt and Criminal Contempt. Civil Contempt is defined in Section 2(b) as the wilful disobedience of any judgment, decree, direction, order, or other process of a court, or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court. Criminal Contempt, defined in Section 2(c), involves the publication of any matter or the doing of any act that (i) scandalises or lowers the authority of any court, (ii) prejudices or interferes with the due course of any judicial proceeding, or (iii) obstructs the administration of justice.
The mechanism for punishment, detailed in Section 12, allows for simple imprisonment up to six months, a fine up to ₹2,000, or both, though the court may remit the punishment upon a sincere apology. The Act connects directly to Article 19(2) of the Constitution, which permits reasonable restrictions on free speech in the interest of contempt of court. A significant change occurred with the Contempt of Courts (Amendment) Act, 2006, which amended Section 13 to allow the defense of justification by truth if the court is satisfied that it is in the public interest and the request is made in good faith. This amendment also mandated that punishment can only be imposed if the contempt substantially interferes with the due course of justice.