GUWAHATI: The Allahabad High Court recently fined a man ₹2,000 for contempt of court after he falsely accused the court’s judges of corruption in a complaint to the President of India.
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A bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Brij Raj Singh found Devendra Kumar Dixit guilty of making baseless allegations that judges had taken bribes to dismiss his writ petition in 2016. In its ruling, the court asserted that his actions scandalised and undermined the judiciary’s authority.
Dixit was held guilty under Section 2(c)(i) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. However, considering his old age and that this was his first offence, the court imposed only a fine of ₹2,000. He must deposit the amount with the Senior Registrar of the High Court in Lucknow within a month or face one week of simple imprisonment.
The contempt proceedings were initiated in 2016 on the orders of the then Acting Chief Justice. In response, Dixit argued that he had merely sent his complaint to the President of India and was unaware of how it reached the High Court. He requested a copy of the covering letter from Rashtrapati Bhawan.
However, the court dismissed his request, stating that the letter was irrelevant to the contempt case. It noted that Dixit had already admitted to writing the complaint, making the forwarding letter unnecessary.
The court framed charges against Dixit in January 2024, but he continued to demand the covering letter to support his defence. On March 5, the Court concluded the final hearing and reserved its verdict.
Finally, delivering the judgment on March 24, the court stated that Dixit’s complaint clearly fell under criminal contempt as it lowered the court’s authority and interfered with the administration of justice. It also noted that Dixit had not submitted an affidavit apologising for his actions.