M R PARASHAR Vs. FAROOQ ABDULLAH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition asking that the respondents be committed for contempt for certain statements allegedly made by Respondent 1, who is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Respondent 2 is the Editor of a newspaper called Daily Kashmir Times in which those statements were published, while Respondent 3 is its correspondent.

(2.) In the issue of the Daily Kashmir Times dated Nov. 13. 1982, a news item appeared under the caption "CM asks engineers to forcibly occupy club building". According to the report, the Chief Minister, while addressing the annual general meeting of the Institute of Engineers, said that the engineers should occupy a certain building forcibly as it would not be possible for them to evict the Amar Singh Club through the normal legal process and that he would provide the necessary police assistance for that purpose. The report says that the Chief Minister advised the Institute of Engineers to move quickly in the matter before the management of the Club could obtain a stay order from the Court.

(3.) Another news item appeared in the same newspaper on Nov. 23, 1982 under the caption "Chief Minister says he will never accept courts, stay orders". According to the report, the Chief Minister while addressing a rally of Judicial Employees Welfare Association, denounced and ridiculed the judiciary by saying that "justice is being bought in the judicial courts". Taking exception to the frequent stay orders issued by the Courts against the Government, the Chief Minister is alleged to have said: