KISHAN SWARUP Vs. R P PANDHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal under section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (for short the Act) against an order dated 21 -7 -1986 passed 5y a learned Single Judge of this Court dismissing the application filed by the appellants for punishing the respondents for having committed civil contempt by disobeying an interim injunction order of the Civil Judge.

(2.) IT appears that an injunction order was passed by the Civil Judge which was in favour of the appellant and against the respondents and in accordance with :he allegations of the appellants, the injunction order was disobeyed. The appellants filed an application for civil contempt. On the date of hearing, however, no body appeared for either of the parties and as the appellants had an alternative remedy under Order XXXIX Rule 2 (a) of the Code of Civil Procedure, hence the application was dismissed.

(3.) AS the appeal was directed not against an order of the learned Single Judge holding the contemners to be guilty, hence the question was as to whether the appeal was maintainable under section 19 of the Act against an order discharging the notice or not holding the contemners guilty. Sri Tejpal, the learned counsel for the appellants, urged that the provisions of Section 19 of the Act were comprehensive enough to include the maintainability of the appeal even against an order not holding the contemners to be guilty. He placed reliance on Vishwanath Khanna v. Ram Swaroop Rastogi, 19X0 CrLJ NOC 109 and L. D. Khanna v. M/s. Chohan Huhtamaki (India) Private Ltd., 1977 CrU 1530.