VERNON MILWARD BASON Vs. ANNE HELEN SKONE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a rule sailing upon the plaintiff Vernon Milward Bason to show cause why he should not be committed to jail or otherwise dealt with for contempt of Court for having insulted one Ashit Kumar Pal, a clerk In the service of Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co., the attorney's for the defendant Anne Helen Skone, in manner stated in the latter's petition.

(2.) The facts, shortly stated, are as follows: The plaintiff Bason instituted this suit against the defendant A. II. Skone and another for damages for breach of a certain agreement. The suit was dismissed with costs on scale No. 2 on the 96h February 1925. The defendant's bill of costs was taxed and an allocatur was issued on the 2nd May, 1925, for a sum of Rs. 5,827-4- 0. It was served on Bason's attorneys on the 5 May 1925. On she 9 May, 1925, the defendant A. H. Skone took out a notice under Order 21, Rule 37 (1) of the Civil Procedure Code signed by the Master of this Court requiring the plaintiff to appear in person before this Court on the 22 May, 1925, at 11 o clock in the forenoon, to show cause why he should not be committed to jail in execution of the decree for costs passed against him on the 9th February 1925. Ashit Kumar Pal, who, as mentioned above, is a clerk in the service of Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co., was entrusted by the latter with the duty of effecting service of the said notice on Bason. Bason bad been a client of Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co., and was known to Ashit Kumar Pal. It appears that on the 9 May, at about 2-30 p.m., Ashit Kumar Pal called at premises No. 6-1, Moira Street, where Bason resides, for the purpose of serving the said notice upon him. Bason occupies a flat on the first floor of he said premises. There were servants downstairs, but they were not Bason's servants; and Ashist Kumar Pal went up to the first floor. He says that when be got to the first floor, he did not find the front door of the sitting room of the plaintiff to be closed; the door was open, and a, purdah was hanging at the entrance to the room. He found that Bason was sitting in a chair and reading a newspaper. Ashit asked him If ha might enter and thereafter he entered the sitting room with Bason's permission. He informed Bason of the purpose for which he had called and made over to him both the original notice under Order 21, Rule 37 (1) of the Civil Procedure Code and a copy. (It may be noted in passing that Ashit in his affidavit states that he made over the original notice only to Bason ) Bason read the notice and flung the papers at the floor. Ashit thereupon picked up the papers from the floor and showed to Bason the original notice bearing the seal of this Court and Informed him that if he refused to accept service he would affix a copy on the outer door. Bason thereupon became very angry and called Ashit Kumar Pal a damned swine and caught him by the throat and dragged him and pushed him towards the door, so that he nearly fell down. Ashit states that thereafter he affixed a copy of the said notice on the front door of the room. He came back to the office of his employers and reported the matter to the Head Court Clerk of Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co., Babu Kali Prosanno Chakravarti. The later, bearing what had happened, took Ashit Kumar Pal to Mr. D. C. Banerjee, a member of the firm of Messrs. Orr, Dignam & Co., who was in charge of the case, and reported the incident to him. Mr. Banerjee directed that Ashit should make an affidavit setting out?what had happened. It was a Saturday and the affidavits was not made till the Monday following.

(3.) Bason denies the allegations made by Ashit Kumar Pal and his account of what happened on Saturday, the 9 May, is as follows: "That on Saturday, the 9 instant, while I was resting in my sitting room (which is on the first floor of the premises No. 6-1, Moira Street) I saw a person on the other side of the purdah at the entrance door of my half flat. Not having my glasses on, I could not distinguish the person and called out: Who are you and what do you want? I then got up to go to the door, but the man whom I had seen walked quickly into my room and informed me that he had a notice of the High Court to serve on me. I enquired of him if ha was a Court official. He replied that he was a clerk of Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co. and that it was not necessary for a Court official to serve me with the said notice. I read the said notice, handed it back to the said clerk and bold him that it was quite unnecessary to take out the said notice, as I had been all along willing to pay the taxed costs and that I was unable to understand why such a notice had been taken out I requested the said clerk to take it to my attorneys, Messrs. B.N. Basu & Co., who would accept service on my behalf and who were in communication with Messrs. Orr Dignam & Co. then on the subject and bad Informed them that I would pay the taxed costs. I assured him that there would be no trouble about the payment of the costs. The clerk said: "Yes, Sir, I will go to Messrs. B.N. Basu & Co,, now. There the matter ended." Bason has produced an affidavit in support of his version by his khitmatgar, Shaik Korban. There are affidavits by Mr. Banerjee and Kali Prosanna Chakravarti stating that Ashit Kumar Pal, on his return from No. 6-1, Moira Street, reported to them that he had been abused and assaulted by Bason when he went to serve the said notice.