J&K & L HC Issues Contempt Notice To Sharadul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. For Misquoting Its 2010 Judgment In A Legal Notice
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has issued a notice of contempt against Sharadul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., New Delhi for allegedly misquoting its 2010 judgment in a legal notice.
The Court took suo-motu cognizance of the contents of the legal notice and initiated contempt proceedings against the law firm, directing it to explain its legal notice issued to the NHPC Ltd. Chairman & Managing Director on behalf of Sawalkote Consortium. The Court stated that the Law Firm’s reference to the Judgment in its communication to the NHPC Ltd. to be prima facie amounting to “criminal contempt undermining the administration of justice and the authority by this Court and its judgment.”
A Single Bench of Justice Rahul Bharti observed, “Court cannot let escape a matter of serious concern on record of this writ petition in the context in which the judgment of this Court…came to be misquoted, with impunity, out of context without any factual and legal basis for and on behalf of the petitioner so as to color said judgment dated 01.02.2010 of this Court to mean something which at no point of time it ever meant or suggested it to be so.”
Senior Advocate C.M. Koul represented the Petitioner, while Advocate General D.C. Raina and Senior Advocate P.N. Raina appeared for the Respondents.
M/s Sawalkote Prosjektutvikling AS (SPAS), a Norwegian company, had filed a Writ Petition challenging the validity of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) executed between the Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) and NHPC Ltd. The Petitioner claimed to represent the Sawalkote Consortium and sought relief against the NHPC's alleged actions concerning the Sawalkote Hydro-Electric Project (HEP).
The Court, however, found the Petitioner did not have the legal status or locus standi to file the Petition, as SPAS did not include the other constituents of the consortium, namely M/s Hindustan Construction Company Ltd. and M/s Ozaltin Construction Trade & Industry Company.
The High Court noted that the legal notice issued by the law Firm had claimed that the Court, in its 2010 judgment, recognised the Sawalkote Consortium's contract with JKSPDC as "alive, thriving, and binding." The Bench, while rejecting this claim, emphasised that the 2010 judgment neither examined the contractual relationship between the consortium and JKSPDC nor upheld any existing contract.
“Para 18, 20, 23, 27, 28 & 32 of the legal notice dated 18.04.2022 issued by Sharadul Amarchand Mangaldass & Co. (a law firm) through its partner Ritu Bhalla carry and make a misconceived and perverted reference to the judgment dated 01.02.2010 of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and, therefore, the said misquoting of the judgment of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir by none else than law firm is a serious matter to be taken with due seriousness as prima-facie amounting to a criminal contempt undermining the administration of justice and the authority by this Court and its judgment,” the Court remarked.
Consequently, the Court held the law firm’s reference to the 2010 judgment was "misconceived and perverted" and amounted to criminal contempt.
Cause Title: M/S Sawalkote Prosjektutvikling v. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir & Ors.
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate C. M. Koul; Advocates Arshad Hussain and A. R. Bhat
Respondents: Advocate General D.C. Raina; AAG Ravinder Gupta; Senior Advocate P.N. Raina; Advocates J.A. Hamal and A.P. Singh
