(1.) A single judge, sitting on the original side, has found Kuldip Rastogi and the firm Ram Swarup Rastogi &. Sons, of which he is one of the partners, guilty of contempt of court. Kuldip Rastogi has been ordered to be detained in a civil prison for three months, and the firm has been fined Rs. 2,000. Both of them have appealed. At the same time, Vishwanath Khanna, who initiated the proceedings for contempt, has also filed an appeal. He maintains that the other partners of the firm are equally guilty of contempt of court, and prays that all of them, including Kuldip Rastogi, be detained in the civil prison for six months, the maximum period permissible in law. These two appeals have been heard together as they have arisen out of the same order.
(2.) The points canvassed necessitate a somewhat detailed narration of the facts. Nevertheless, I will leave out all that I consider to be irrelevant. That is a task rendered unduly difficult by the many volumes of court record already spawned by the litigation between the parties.
(3.) In Lucknow there is a cinema called 'Shilpi Theatre'. It is owned by a firm known as Ram Swarup Rastogi & Sons. The firim was constituted by a deed dated 2nd September 1972, and the partners are Ram Swarup Rastogi, his wife Phoolmati, and their sons . Jagdish, Kuldip and Kamal. It is stated in the partnership deed that Ram Swaraup Rastogi and Kuldip Rastogi shall be the managing partners and look after the 'day to day business of the firm'. The deed records that the partners had agreed to construct a cinema on a plot of land at II Cantonment Road, Lucknow, which was owned by Ram Swarup Rastogi and his wife.