New Delhi: The Delhi government's Additional Standing Counsel (Criminal), Amol Sinha, has granted consent for initiating criminal contempt proceedings against Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) legal head Ratna Singh over her social media posts targeting a judicial officer at a Delhi court.
The consent followed a representation by advocate Kausik Chatterjee, who, in a letter dated 14 October and a supplementary representation dated 28 October, sought contempt proceedings against Singh.
In a letter dated 2 November, Sinha gave his consent for taking appropriate steps to initiate proceedings against Singh under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act.
The matter concerns Singh's posts on the social media platform X, in which she expressed dissatisfaction with an order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Abhinav Pandey of the Saket courts in proceedings related to her alleged detention by the Delhi Police.
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Sinha said the posts went beyond criticism of the judicial order and prima facie suggested that the magistrate was acting under the instructions of an external authority.
"The said expressions prima facie suggest that the Judicial Officer was acting under the instructions of an external authority rather than independently exercising judicial discretion in accordance with law," he said.
He noted that such imputations questioned the independence and impartiality of the judicial process and were capable of lowering the authority of the court and undermining public confidence in the administration of justice.
Sinha also considered subsequent statements concerning the Delhi Police and the functioning of the Special Executive Magistrate system. However, he said these could not be treated as criminal contempt merely because they amounted to strong criticism of the authorities.
He clarified that his opinion was limited to the prima facie nature of the allegations and did not amount to a final determination of criminal contempt. The matter would be subject to independent consideration by the Delhi High Court.
