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TMI Blog2012 (12) TMI 1244X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Regulations, and the judgments of the Court with a clear intention to grant admission to less meritorious candidates over candidates of higher merit. To put it simply, it was a case of favouritism and arbitrariness. The case in hand also demonstrates how either way the career of the students of higher merit has been jeopardised by the abuse and manipulation of provided procedure. While directing initiation of proceedings under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (for short the Act ) held as under: 4. We have categorically returned a finding that all the relevant stakeholders have failed to perform their duty/obligation in accordance with law. Where the time schedules have not been complied with, and rule of merit has been defeated, there nepotism and manipulation have prevailed. The stands of various authorities are at variance with each other and none admits to fault. Thus, it is imperative for this Court to ensure proper implementation of judgments of this Court and the Regulations of the Medical Council of India as well as not to overlook the arbitrary and colourable exercise of power by the concerned authorities/colleges. 5. Therefore, we hereby direct initiation ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng the senior, Dr. Adile was asked to relieve Dr. Bhola, on 8th September, 2006 temporarily. This is how he came to be appointed as the Director of Medical Education. The findings recorded in the order against him which includes violation of schedule, moulding the process of selection to select his daughter and actually providing her a seat in the Medical College, Raipur has not been disputed. However, it is stated that he tenders an unconditional apology to the Court for all the acts of omission and commission mentioned in the order dated 8th May, 2012. He prays for the mercy of the Court on the ground that he was under suspension for last two years i.e. since 23rd July, 2010 and has suffered already. His daughter was also asked to pay Rs. 5 lakhs, if she was to continue her course in terms of the order dated 8th May, 2012, and therefore, he prays for discharge. 3. Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, the learned senior Counsel appearing for Dr. S.L. Adile argued in principle that the Court may take a lenient view and discharge the notice of contempt against the contemnor in view of his unconditional, unqualified apology being tendered at the very first instance. The apology tendered is bona fide a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ditional apology even if it is made at the threshold of the proceedings. It is not necessary for us to examine in any greater detail the factual matrix of the case since the disobedience, manipulation of procedure and violation of the schedule prescribed under the orders of the Court is an admitted position. All that we have to examine is whether the apology tendered is bona fide when examined in light of the attendant circumstances and whether it will be in the interest of justice to accept the same. 7. The facts which will weigh with the Court while considering acceptance of an apology are the contemptuous conduct, the extent to which the order of the Court has been violated, irresponsible acts on the part of the contemnor and the degree of interference in the administration of justice, which thereby cause prejudice to other parties. An apology tendered, even at the outset, has to be bona fide and should be demonstrative of repentance and sincere regret on the part of the contemnor, lest the administration of justice be crudely interfered with by a person with impunity. The basic ingredients of the rule of law have to be enforced, whatever be the consequence and all persons are u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ments had been made with a malicious attempt to cast aspersions and attribute motives to the Court and the same were made knowingly by the contemnor. At this stage, we may also notice another judgment of this Court in the case of All Bengal Excise Licensees' Association v. Raghabendra Singh and Ors. [ (2007) 11 SCC 374], where the Court while declining to accept an apology, punished the contemnors for disobeying the orders of the Court. The Court noticed that the Respondents were senior officers and were expected to know that under the constitutional scheme of the country, the orders of the Court have to be obeyed implicitly and that orders of this Court and of any Court cannot be trifled with. The Court returned a finding that the officers had acted deliberately to subvert the orders of the High Court evidently and observed: 41. All Respondents 1-4 are senior and experienced officers and must be presumed to know that under the constitutional scheme of this country orders of the High Court have to be obeyed implicitly and that orders of this Court--for that matter any court should not be trifled with. We have already found hereinabove that they have acted deliberately to subver ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ef. East India Commercial Co. Ltd. v. Collector of Customs [AIR 1962 SC 1893] and Official Liquidator v. Dayanand and Ors. [ (2008) 10 SCC 1]. 10. These very principles have to be strictly adhered to by the executive and instrumentalities of the State. It is expected that none of these institutions should fall out of line with the requirements of the standard of discipline in order to maintain the dignity of institution and ensure proper administration of justice. 11. From the above principle, it is clear that consideration of an apology as contemplated under explanation to Section 12(1) of the Act is not a panacea to avoid action in law universally. While considering the apology and its acceptance, the Court inter alia considers a) the conduct of the contemnor prior and subsequent to the tendering of apology. If the conduct is contemptuous, prejudicial and has harmed the system and other innocent persons as a whole, it would be a factor which would weigh against the contemnors; and b) the stage and time when such apology is tendered. 12. In light of the above principles, if one examines the conduct of Dr. S.L. Adile, he is a person who cannot plead ignorance to the directions of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by acceptance of apology, as it would amount to encouraging similar behaviour. 14. The contemnor, Dr. Adile, while heavily relying upon the factum of his having been placed under suspension by the disciplinary authority as well as the direction to his daughter to pay Rs. 5 lacs for continuing with the medical course to which she was admitted, has argued that the Court should take a lenient view and accept the apology. We are of the view that such a contention cannot be of much advantage to the contemnor. These are not the relevant factors for acceptance of an apology, however, they may be of some consideration while imposing the punishment. 15. Now, we shall proceed to discuss the legal issues raised on behalf of the contemnor that in such cases, the proceedings under the Act cannot be taken recourse to. 16. It is true that Section 12 of the Act contemplates disobedience of the orders of the Court to be wilful and further that such violation has to be of a specific order or direction of the Court. To contend that there cannot be an initiation of contempt proceedings where directions are of a general nature as it would not only be impracticable, but even impossible to regulate such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s of the Act. Whether for such violation or non-compliance, the Court would punish a person or persons, would always depend upon the facts and circumstances of a given case. It is not possible to provide any straight jacket formula that is universally applicable to all cases. All that we have to examine is whether the apology tendered is bona fide, when examined in light of the attendant circumstances and that it will be in the interest of justice to accept the same. 19. This Court in the case of Mohd. Aslam v. Union of India [: (1994) 6 SCC 442] observed that when we speak of the rule of law as a characteristic of our country, no man is above the law but that here every man, whatever be his rank or condition, is subject to the ordinary law of the realm and amenable to jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals. Respect for law and its institutions is the only assurance that can hold a pluralist nation together. One should ensure respect for law as its breach will demolish public faith in accepted constitutional institutions and weaken the peoples' confidence in the rule of law. It will destroy respect for the rule of law and the authority of Courts and will thus seek to place indi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of contempt proceedings, it was contended that the officer was not aware of the directions issued by this Court. Rejecting the plea of ignorance of law, the Court returned a clear finding that there was default on the part of the contemnor and disapproval of such conduct was ordered to be placed on their personal files. However, the Court did not punish them primarily on the ground that they were young judicial officers and had ignored the order of the Court. The directions of this Court in the case of Prem Shankar Shukla v. Delhi Administration [ (1980) 3 SCC 526] issuing guidelines prohibiting such handcuffing itself were, in that sense, of a general nature and this Court clearly held that they were required to be obeyed without exception. 22. Equally, the contemnor cannot draw any advantage from the judgment of this Court in the case of Packraft (India) Pvt. Ltd. through its Director V.S. Mann v. U.P.F.C. through its M.D. R.M. Sethi and Ors. [ (1996) 1 SCC 304] as that was a judgment on its own facts and the Court did not state any absolute proposition of law. We may notice that in that case, the applicant had participated in the sale of the property which was alleged to have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of Article 141 of the Constitution and the Regulations framed by the Medical Council of India are statutorily having the force of law and are binding on all the parties concerned. Various aspects of the admission process as of now are covered either by the respective notifications issued by the State Governments, prospectus issued by the colleges and, in any case, by the Regulations framed by the Medical Council of India. There is no reason why every act of the authorities be not done as per the procedure prescribed under the Rules and why due records thereof be not maintained. This proposition of law or this issue is no more res integra and has been firmly stated by this Court in its various judgments which may usefully be referred at this stage. (Ref.: State of M.P. v. Gopal D. Tirthani, State of Punjab v. Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Bharati Vidyapeeth v. State of Maharashtra, Chowdhury Navin Hemabhai v. State of Gujarat and Harish Verma v. Ajay Srivastava.) 24. In view of the above established principle, we have no hesitation in rejecting even the other contention raised on behalf of the contemnor. Having dealt with both the contentions raised on behalf of the contemn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Gupta v. Parsuram Tiwari [(2004) 13 SCC 746] to contend that if a person acts upon the directions of his superior, he is not liable to be punished for contempt. In the alternative, they have also tendered unconditional apology before this Court. 26. Firstly, we must deal with the case of D.P. Gupta (supra). In that case, the High Court had punished the Vice-Chancellor for over-reaching the judgment of the High Court by exercising his power to condone the break in service for promotion to the post of Head of Department. The High Court also punished the Registrar of the University who was stated to have advised the Vice-Chancellor to act accordingly. The Supreme Court, while upholding the conviction of the Vice-Chancellor of the University noticed that the person concerned was not the acting Registrar who had advised the Vice-Chancellor but had merely carried out the order of the Vice-Chancellor by issuing the notification, which he was bound to carry out. Accordingly, the prayer of the Appellant was allowed by this Court. It is obvious that the contemnor in that case had not done any act or advised the Vice-Chancellor on any count whatsoever. The Vice-Chancellor had issued an order ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the vacancy position and they were also expected to scrutinise the certificates of eligible candidates and recommend admission strictly in order of merit. They have not even averred in their affidavit that vacancy position was in the knowledge to the eligible persons. It is not only improbable but impossible to believe that in the entire State and even from the same town, no candidate would have come to take admission to the medical courses, had they been intimated of the vacancy position. The Committee has not only failed to discharge its onerous duty but has even kept all principles of fair selection aside and ensured selection of the daughter of the Director. In contradistinction to D.P. Gupta's case (supra), none of these persons were obliged to carry out the directions of the Director to give admission to these two candidates. In fact, there was no such direction. These persons were not subordinate to the Director or even the Dean while performing the duties for filling up the two vacancies as members of the Selection Committee. They cannot take shelter of bona fide exercise of power in obeying orders of the superior. 28. In addition to this and for the reasons recorded ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on was taken. The letter dated 8th August, 2006 issued by the Director General's office was fake. The admission was cancelled vide letter dated 19th September, 2010. It is further averred that the Directorate strictly adheres to the schedule provided. It is also stated that no deviation has been made from the prescribed procedure, time schedule approved by the Supreme Court. 31. From these two affidavits, it is in fact clear that both these contemnors are not directly responsible for violating any order or direction of the Court. However, they are expected to exercise proper control and supervision over grant of recommendation, permission to give admission in the colleges and the admission process. The Director General of Health Services, Union of India is responsible for maintaining transparency in the process of admission to the medical colleges. Two things are clear that they ought to have checked that the State could not have permitted the college to grant admission to the students on or after August 14, 2006 as 15th of July, 2006 was the last date for grant of recognition and permission to run the medical college. Secondly, when the complaint was received, the Ministry as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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