The Hindu : Front Page : Parliament nod for Contempt of Courts Bill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 04, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Parliament nod for Contempt of Courts Bill

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Parliament gave its assent to the Contempt of Courts (Amendment) Bill with the Rajya Sabha unanimously passing it on Friday after a brief discussion.

The Lok Sabha had approved it earlier. Replying to the discussion, Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj described it as the first step toward more transparency and accountability in the functioning of judiciary.

The Government was also planning to set up a National Judicial Commission to examine complaints of any misconduct of judiciary, he said.

He was responding to observations by Ravi Shankar Prasad (Bharatiya Janata Party) and others that the impeachment law had failed to achieve its purpose and the process was susceptible to political and bureaucratic pressures.

With the amendment, justification by truth would be treated as a valid defence if the court were satisfied that it was in the public interest and the request for invoking the defence was bona fide.

The substitution of Sec. 13 of the Contempt of Courts Act would ensure that no court shall impose a sentence under this Act for a contempt of court unless it is satisfied that contempt is of such nature that it substantially interferes or tends substantially to interfere with the due process of justice. In addition, the court may permit, in any proceeding for contempt of court, justification by truth as a valid defence if it is satisfied that it is in the public interest and the request for invoking the defence is bona fide.

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