New Delhi, Nov 4 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 against a Delhi court's judicial officer.
The consent was granted on a representation by advocate Kausik Chatterjee, who sought initiation of contempt proceedings against Singh through a letter dated October 14 and a supplementary representation on October 28.
In a letter dated November 2, 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 relates to Singh's posts on social media platform X expressing dissatisfaction with an order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Abhinav Pandey of the Saket courts in proceedings concerning her alleged detention by the Delhi Police.
Sinha said the posts went beyond criticism of the judicial order and prima facie suggested 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, but 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 confined to the prima facie nature of the allegations and would not amount to a final determination of criminal contempt, which would be subject to independent consideration by the Delhi High Court.
