Restatement of Indian Law- CONTEMPT OF COURT
Note : A Restatement of Law is essentially a codification (compilation) of basic legal principles and case law, which either explains the statutory provisions or lays down the principles in areas not covered by statutes. This codification gradually develops into recognized and accepted principles. Though Restatement of Law may not be a binding authority, it will be of a higher persuasive value because it is formulated with extensive inputs from academicians, scholars, practising lawyers and judges. It reflects the consensus of legal community as to what the law is and what it should become.
It states the current law of the land by considering the relevant constitutional/statutory provisions and judicial pronouncements, to identify and remove uncertainties and ambiguities surrounding the legal principles, and to clarify and simplify the law. The law of contempt does not lend itself easily to codification or crystallization of principles. It is, by its very nature, highly contextual and fact specific. The power of contempt is a necessary concomitant of a Court. This power must be exercised judiciously - in a manner that balances the need for preserving and upholding the rule of law as well the integrity of the judicial system, while at the same time avoiding untoward incursions into that precious right of freedom of speech and expression.
The law of contempt is simply the manner in which this power is to be exercised. And yet, there can be no hard and fast principles for how such power must be exercised. Much would depend on the circumstances of a given case, and the Court is therefore the best judge of how the power is exercised in a given case. Identifying certain core principles is therefore a difficult task, because it is virtually impossible to account for all the varying circumstances in which a case may have been decided.
The restatement has been subjected to public scrutiny by placing the draft prepared by the contributors before jurists and academics inviting comments and suggestions for improvement. The suggestions received were processed by an Editorial Committee and appropriate changes were made to ensure that the restatement attempts to achieve clarity and accuracy.
It derives its strength from the scholarship that provides its foundation, and the clarity with which that scholarship is articulated.
As part of an effort to ensure broad-basing, the draft was put up on the Indian Law Institute website, inviting comments. It was also sent to a select group of Judges, Senior Advocates, Academics, and other legal scholars - for seeking their comments. The final version of the Restatement has benefitted enormously from the comments of Justice M.N. Venkatachalliah, Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee, Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, Mr. A.K. Ganguli, Prof. V.B. Coutinho, Prof. Balraj Chauhan, and several others.
1. Provides codification of basic legal principles and case law, and explains principles not covered by statutes.
2. States the current law of the land by considering the relevant constitutional/statutory provisions and judicial pronouncements.
3. Identifies and removes uncertainties and ambiguities surrounding the legal principles, to clarify and simplify the law.
4. Saves a lot of arguments and time for advocates and courts by laying down the points of law.
5. The principles stated in this book can, over a period of time become law.
