Madras HC imposes costs of ₹50,000 on litigant for filing contempt of court petition against family court judge – The Hindu

The Madras High Court has dismissed a contempt of court petition filed against a family court judge for not disposing of a divorce case within a stipulated period of time, and has also imposed costs of ₹50,000 on the petitioner.

Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan ordered that the costs should be paid to the Chief Justice’s Relief Fund within two weeks. He also pulled up the High Court Registry for having numbered the contempt petition without proper assessment.

The judge pointed out that the petitioner, G.P. Bhaskar had moved the divorce plea, on grounds of cruelty and desertion, before the first Additional Family Court in Chennai in 2013. In 2017, he moved the High Court for speedy disposal of the plea.

Disposing of his civil revision petition on January 11, 2017, the High Court directed the family court to dispose of the divorce petition by March 31, 2017. In the meantime, the petitioner’s wife took out an interlocutory application seeking maintenance.

Though the woman had sought ₹30,000 a month, the family court directed the husband to pay ₹10,000 per month to her and ₹5,000 a month to their child. It also ordered payment of ₹20,000 towards litigation expenses to the woman. Aggrieved over the order passed on the interlocutory application, both the wife and husband had preferred individual appeals before the High Court in 2017 and those appeals were dismissed by the High Court only on February 11, 2021.

Justice Ilanthiraiyan held that the husband’s action in having filed an appeal against the interlocutory order by the family court and then preferring the present contempt petition against the presiding officer was nothing but an abuse of process of court.

‘Only litigant responsible for delay’

The judge said only the litigant was responsible for the delay in disposal of the divorce petition. Further, referring to the limitation period prescribed under Section 22 of the Contempt of Courts Act of 1971, the judge said, if at all any contempt had been made out, such a petition should have been filed within a year.

Holding that a contempt of court petition could not be entertained in 2021 for disobedience of an order passed in 2017, the judge said, the High Court Registry had mechanically numbered the petition without noticing the date of the order.

He further pointed out that the contempt petition had been moved against district judge M.D. Sumathi who had assumed charge as first additional principal judge in the Family Court at Chennai only from August 25, 2021.

“Therefore, the first respondent, being the presiding officer of the court cannot be impleaded as a contemnor in any event,” the judge said and dismissed the petition moved against the petitioner’s wife too. The judge directed the Registry to list the case after two weeks to report compliance of the order to pay costs.