Office Reference v. Shri Firoj Khan

Chhattisgarh HC1 Jul 2026CONTR/1/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Chhattisgarh High Court Bilaspur; CONTR No. 1 of 2026; criminal contempt reference by Senior Civil Judge Bagbahara; allegations against Presiding Officer in transfer application under Section 24 CPC; Civil Suit No. 09-A/2023 Mahesh Dubey v. Anil Singh & Others; respondent advocates Firoj Khan, Shamshad Khan, Yasmin Khan and litigant Anil Singh; unconditional apology accepted; contempt proceedings dropped; order dated 02/07/2026; Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice; Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge; Adil Minhaj; Hemant Kesharwani.

What did the court decide?

Unconditional apologies of respondent-contemnor Nos. 1 to 4 accepted and contempt proceedings against them dropped; Registrar (Judicial) directed to send a copy of the order to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Mahasamund and to the Presiding Officer of the trial Court. ¶¶42

Office Reference Vs Shri Firoj Khan — Chhattisgarh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether criminal contempt proceedings should be initiated against respondent-contemnors Nos. 1 to 4 for the allegations made against the Presiding Officer in the transfer application filed under Section 24 CPC. +1 more

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Court's answer

Pleadings filed before a Court of law must be drafted with utmost care, restraint and responsibility; allegations against a Presiding Officer touching conduct, impartiality or functioning have serious consequences and cannot be made lightly or recklessly, and members of the Bar as well as litigants must maintain the dignity of judicial proceedings and refrain from scandalous allegations against the Court.

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Ratio / Principle

Having regard to the explanation furnished in the replies, the unconditional apologies tendered, the respondent-contemnors' compliance with the Court's directions and their subsequent conduct, this Court accepted the unconditional apologies of respondent-contemnor Nos. 1 to 4 in the interest of justice.

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Key takeaways

The contempt proceedings against respondent-contemnor Nos. 1 to 4 are dropped and the matter consigned to the record; it is made clear that if any such act is repeated, it shall be open to the Court concerned to initiate appropriate proceedings against such contemnor in accordance with law.ratio¶¶42

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Criminal contempt reference (CONTR No. 1 of 2026, High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur) sent by the learned Senior Civil Judge, Bagbahara, District Mahasamund, arising out of allegations made against the Presiding Officer in a transfer application under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure filed during the pendency of Civil Suit No. 09-A/2023 (Mahesh Dubey v. Anil Singh & Others) on behalf of defendant No. 1 (respondent No. 4, Anil Singh) by respondent advocates Nos. 1 to 3 (Firoj Khan, Shamshad Khan and Yasmin Khan). Cognizance was taken on 09.04.2026 and notice issued through the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Mahasamund. The respondent-contemnors tendered unconditional apologies before the High Court on 06.05.2026 and, in compliance with the direction of that date, also before the trial Court, and remained personally present on 02.07.2026. The Court (per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice; bench: Ramesh Sinha, CJ and Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, J) observed that pleadings must be drafted with utmost care and that allegations against a Presiding Officer cannot be made lightly, but accepting the apologies and noting compliance and remorse, dropped the contempt proceedings, consigned the matter to the record, and left it open to the Court concerned to initiate appropriate proceedings if such conduct is repeated.

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Digitally signed by ALOK ALOK SHARMA SHARMA Date:2026.07.06 15:33:37 +0530

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2026:CGHC:27158-DB NAFR

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HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

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CONTR No. 1 of 2026

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1 - Office Reference Office Reference

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... Petitioner(s)

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versus

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1 - Shri Firoj Khan Advocate, District And Session Court Mahasamund Chhattisgarh

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2 - Shri Shamshad Khan Advocate, District And Session Court Mahasamund Chhattisgarh

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3 - Sushri Yasmin Khan Advocate, District And Session Court Mahasamund Chhattisgarh

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4 - Anil Singh S/o Surendra Singh R/o Ward No. 06, Lalpur Road, Bagbahara, District Mahasamund Chhattisgarh

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... Respondent(s)

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(Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Respondent No. 1 to 3. : Mr. Adil Minhaj, Advocate. For Respondent No. 4. : Mr. Hemant Kesharwani, Advocate.

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Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge

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Order on Board

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Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

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02/07/2026

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1 . This is a reference of criminal contempt sent by the learned Senior Civil Judge, Bagbahara, District Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh.

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Heard Mr. Adil Minhaj, learned counsel appearing for the Respondent No. 1 to 3, and Mr. Hemant Kesharwani, learned counsel appearing for the Respondent No. 4.

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The present reference arises out of Civil Suit No. 09-A/2023 (Mahesh Dubey v. Anil Singh & Others), which was pending before the Court of learned Senior Civil Judge, Bagbahara, District Mahasamund. During the pendency of the said civil suit, an application under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure was filed on behalf of defendant No. 1 / respondent No. 4 herein seeking transfer of the suit. In the said transfer application, certain allegations were made against the Presiding Officer concerned.

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The learned Senior Civil Judge, upon considering the contents of the said transfer application and being of the view that the allegations levelled therein were contemptuous in nature, made the present reference to this Court for initiation of proceedings for criminal contempt against the persons responsible for filing the said application.

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On the basis of the said reference, this Court, by order dated 09.04.2026, took cognizance of the matter and issued notice to the respondent-contemnors through the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Mahasamund, directing them to remain personally present before this Court and to show cause as to why proceedings for criminal contempt be not initiated against them for the alleged act.

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In compliance with the order dated 09.04.2026, the matter was taken up on 06.05.2026, when respondent Nos. 1 to 4 appeared before

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this Court. On the said date, replies were filed on behalf of the respondent-contemnors and unconditional apologies were tendered by them. Upon considering the nature of the allegations made in the transfer application and the apology so tendered, this Court observed, prima facie, that the act of respondent Nos. 1 to 3, in moving the transfer application on behalf of respondent No. 4 containing allegations against the Presiding Officer concerned, appeared to be contemptuous in nature. However, taking note of the unconditional apology tendered before this Court, it was directed that the contemnors shall appear before the Presiding Officer concerned and submit an appropriate application tendering their apology. It was further observed that before discharging the contemnors from the present proceedings, this Court deemed it appropriate to monitor their future conduct, and accordingly, the matter was directed to be listed on 02.07.2026 with a direction that the respondent-contemnors shall remain personally present before this Court.

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Today, in compliance with the aforesaid orders, respondent Nos. 1 to 4 are present before this Court and have been duly identified by their respective learned counsel.

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Learned counsel appearing for respondent Nos. 1 to 3 submits that separate replies have been filed on their behalf. In the said replies, respondent Nos. 1 to 3 have tendered unconditional apology and have stated that they have complete faith and respect for the institution of the judiciary. It has been stated that they never intended to scandalise the

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Court or lower its authority and that if any averment made in the transfer application is found to be objectionable, the same was wholly inadvertent, unintentional and not wilful. They have further expressed remorse and prayed that the same be condoned in the interest of justice.

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Learned counsel appearing for respondent No. 4 submits that respondent No. 4 has also filed his reply and has tendered unconditional apology before this Court. It has been stated that the averments made in the transfer application were not intended to cast any aspersion upon the Presiding Officer or to scandalise the Court, and that if the pleadings are found to be improper or objectionable, the same may be condoned.

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The Court has carefully considered the replies filed by respondent-contemnor Nos. 1 to 4. The said replies are taken on record. It has also been brought to the notice of this Court that in compliance with the order dated 06.05.2026, the respondentcontemnors have filed applications before the Court concerned tendering unconditional apology. Along with the same, an application for taking additional documents on record has also been filed before this Court. The said application and the documents annexed therewith are also taken on record.

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There can be no dispute that pleadings filed before a Court of law must be drafted with utmost care, restraint and responsibility. Any allegation made against a Presiding Officer touching upon his or her

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conduct, impartiality or functioning has serious consequences and cannot be made lightly or recklessly. Members of the Bar as well as litigants are expected to maintain the dignity of judicial proceedings and refrain from making scandalous or unwarranted allegations against the Court.

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In the present case, this Court had already observed in its order dated 06.05.2026 that the act of filing the transfer application containing such allegations prima facie appeared to be contemptuous in nature. At the same time, the Court also took note of the fact that the respondentcontemnors had tendered unconditional apology and, therefore, granted them an opportunity to place their remorse on record before the Presiding Officer concerned as well.

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From the material now placed on record, it appears that the respondent-contemnors have complied with the said direction and have tendered unconditional apologies not only before this Court but also before the Court concerned. They have remained personally present before this Court, have been duly identified by their respective counsel, and have expressed regret for the averments made in the transfer application.

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Having regard to the explanation furnished by the respondentcontemnors in their replies, the unconditional apologies tendered by them, their subsequent conduct in complying with the directions issued by this Court, and the overall facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is inclined, in the interest of justice, to accept the unconditional

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apologies tendered by respondent-contemnor Nos. 1 to 4. The Court hopes and trusts that the respondent-contemnors shall remain cautious in future and shall not repeat such conduct.

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Accordingly, the contempt proceedings against respondentcontemnor Nos. 1 to 4 are hereby dropped , and the matter is consigned to the record. However, it is made clear that if any such act is repeated by any of the respondent-contemnors in future, it shall be open to the Court concerned to initiate appropriate proceedings against such contemnor in accordance with law.

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The replies as well as the application for taking additional documents on record along with the unconditional apologies filed by the respondent-contemnors shall form part of the record.

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The Registrar (Judicial) is directed to send a copy of this order to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Mahasamund, and to the Presiding Officer of the trial Court for necessary information.

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Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice

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Alok

Office Reference v. Shri Firoj Khan

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Office Reference v. Shri Firoj Khan

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

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Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

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