Baidyabati Municipality and Anr. v. Sankar Roy
Case brief
What is this about?
Maintainability of appeal against show-cause order in contempt proceeding; Section 19 Contempt of Courts Act 1971 — appeal lies only from punishment order; Clause 15 Letters Patent — 'judgment'; compliance with Court-fixed time limit; authority cannot choose when to comply; compassionate appointment direction (WPA 13048 of 2019, order dt. 22.06.2022); affidavit of compliance; show cause and personal presence of contemnor; appeal and connected application (I.A. No. CAN/1/2024) dismissed; Baidyabati Municipality; Sankar Roy; counsel: Phatick Chandra Das, Tithi Paul, Sakya Maity; Judges: Arijit Banerjee, Supratim Bhattacharya; decision date 13.03.2024.
What did the court decide?
The appeal is not maintainable: an appeal under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 lies only from an order passed in exercise of the power to punish for contempt, and no punishment had been inflicted on the appellants.