Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh decided on Thursday that the J&K Special Tribunal shall be considered a subordinate court for beginning necessary procedures.
While allowing a challenge to the J&K Special Tribunal’s initiation of contempt proceedings against the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) authorities in relation to a building permission case, a bench led by Justice Sanjeev Kumar stated: “The J&K Special Tribunal is not a toothless body altogether and is possessed of sufficient powers to deal with citizens who dare to commit its contempt.”
However, the court said that it was up to the government to make the necessary changes to provide the Tribunal the ability to penalise for contempt.
The court emphasised that the Administrative Tribunals established under the Administrative Tribunals Act of 1985, as well as the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal established under the Companies Act, have been expressly granted the authority to punish for contempt of court.
The court said that this jurisdiction was similar to and comparable to the power granted to High Courts under Article 215 of the Indian Constitution and Section 10 of the Contempt of Courts Act.
The court stated that, while the tribunal was not vested with any power, directly or indirectly, to punish for contempt in relation to itself or any member thereof, it was given the power of a civil court to punish a person for contempt in relation to itself or any member thereof under Rule 21 of the Jammu and Kashmir Special Tribunal Rules, 1986.
“Since the civil court is not vested with any power to punish a person for contempt in relation to itself, as such, such power should be understood to mean the power conferred upon a civil court under Order 39 Rule 2-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, to punish for disobedience of interim injunctions passed by a civil court under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure only,” the court stated.
According to the court, this would imply that the tribunal should also have the authority to penalise someone for disobeying its temporary orders of injunction issued to maintain the equilibrium or to preserve the lis (complaint or petition).
“The tribunal shall be deemed to be a “court” subordinate to the High Court for the purposes of Section 10 of the Contempt of Courts Act and, therefore, shall be well within its powers to refer an appropriate case to the High Court for initiating appropriate proceedings against the violators of its orders or against those who commit its criminal contempt,” the court stated.
