Allahabad HC Holds Man Guilty For Criminal Contempt Over Baseless Corruption Allegations Against HC Judges, Imposes ₹2K Fine

Perusing the record and contents of his complaint, a bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh noted that he made “frivolous and baseless” allegations of corruption against the Judges, “without any basis or evidence” which had the effect of “scandalising and lowers the authority of the Court” as per Section 2(c) of the Act, 1971.

However, considering his old age and the fact that this was his first offence, the bench imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 to be deposited with the Senior Registrar, High Court, Lucknow, within one month. The Court clarified that failure to comply would result in a one-week simple imprisonment.

Essentially, the contemnor submitted a complaint in April 2016, alleging that while deciding a writ petition filed by him, the HC judges colluded with corrupt, dishonest, and traitorous officials through a Senior Advocate, accepting money to dismiss the petition. He claimed the petition was dismissed with costs on the first day of the hearing as part of this alleged deal.

The then Acting Chief Justice took cognizance of the complaint in June 2016 and referred the matter to the relevant court for initiation of appropriate proceedings.

Pursuant to this, a contempt notice was issued to the Contemnor-Devendra Kumar Dixit, who sought time to file a reply and later raised a preliminary objection to the contempt proceedings.

The said objection was rejected in October 2022. He submitted his reply in December 2024, and after reviewing it, the Court framed charges against him in January this year.

Earlier this month, the counsellor requested a cover letter from Rashtrapati Bhawan to support his case, as he claimed he could not proceed without it.

However, the bench noted that the allegation of corruption against the HC judges lacked evidence, and thus, it found that the request for Rashtrapati Bhawan letter was unjustified, as the contents of the complaint, which he admitted, amounted to criminal contempt by scandalising the Court and interfering with justice.