VISHWA DEV SHARMA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Vishwa Dev Sharma and Anand Dev Sharma were convicted under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (for short the Act) by the Rajsthan High Court. They were sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of two months. This appeal under Section 19 of the Act has been filed by Vishwa Dev Sharma against the judgment of the High Court dated September 8, 1992.

(2.) The appellant is the Editor of a Hindi daily newspaper called "Nyaya" which is published in three editions from Ajmer, Jaipur and Alwar. An article titled "From the Court precincts" was published on October 6, 1987 in the Jaipur edition of the paper. The article was written by a freelance journalist Anand Sharma. The English version of the article is reproduced in the impugned judgment of the High Court. We have been taken through the judgment of the High Court including the contents of the article. We are of the view that the contents of the article are on the face of it contemptuous and, as such, the High Court was justified in convicting the appellant under the Act. The High Court in its judgment commented upon the article in the following terms:-

(3.) The appellant, in his reply filed before the High Court, stated that he was aged about 70 years and was suffering from heart-problems. Due to his illness, he was confined to the city of Ajmer and had not been going out of Ajmer except for unavoidable reasons. The article was published in the Jaipur edition and, as such, he was unaware about the same as he was residing most of the time at Ajmer. He further stated that Anand Sharma was not an employee of the newspaper. The appellant regretted the publication of the article and tendered unconditional apology before the High Court.