• Civil Contempt action ought to proceed only in respect of established wilful disobedience of the order of the Court Thus, in order to punish a contemnor, it has to be established that disobedience of the order is wilful Word wilful ntroduces a mental element and hence, requires looking into the mind of a person/contemnor by gauging his actions, which is an indication of one’s state of mind “Wilful” means knowingly intentional, conscious, calculated and deliberate with full knowledge of consequences flowing therefrom – It excludes casual, accidental, bona fide or unintentional acts or genuine inability Wilful acts does not encompass involuntarily or negligent actions Act has to be done with a “bad purpose or without justifiable excuse or stubbornly, obstinately or perversely” Wilful act is to be distinguished from an act done carelessly, thoughtlessly, heedlessly or inadvertently It does not include any act done negligently or involuntarily Deliberate conduct of a person means that he knows what he is doing and intends to do the same – Therefore, there has to be a calculated action with evil motive on his part – Even if there is a disobedience of an order, but such disobedience is the result of some compelling circumstances under which it was not possible for the contemnor to comply with the order, the contemnor cannot be punished Committal or sequestration will not be ordered unless contempt involves a degree of default or misconduct
ABHISHEK vs PATTANAIK CPC 625/19 03/06/21 [ : A.M. Khanwilkar JJ ]
[ SUPREME COURT ]