SC-Lawyer Requests CJI To Initiate Suo Moto Contempt Action Against Info. Commissioner For 'Lowering' Supreme Court's Authority

Supreme Court Advocate-On-Record, Aldanish Rein has written a letter to the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court to initiate a Suo Moto criminal contempt proceedings us/ 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act) against Information Commissioner, CIC-Uday Mahurkar claiming that he lowered the authority and scandalized the Supreme Court of India in one of his orders.

Calling his order a foul attack against the judgment of the Supreme Court, the letter says that IC Mahurkar had attempted to shake the confidence of the public in the Judges of the Top Court and in the justice that is being administered by this Court. 

The letter to the CJI written by AOR Rein refers to the order dated 25-11-2022 authored by the Information Commissioner, Uday Mahurkar wherein he observed that the Supreme Court's Judgment in All India Imam Organisation vs. Union of India and ors. [May 1993] was passed in violation of the constitution and had set a wrong precedent.

"The Alleged contemnor who is not even a Law Graduate to understand the nuances of Law, has gone ahead and observed that the Judgment of the Supreme Court was passed in violation of the constitution and has set a wrong precedent. The Alleged contemnor without any substantial material before him and only on the basis of his imagination went on to further justify its attempt of lowering the authority of the Supreme Court...The Language adopted by the above-alleged contemnor is not only contemptuous but is also an attempt to disgrace the Muslim community and further spread disharmony amongst different communities on the strength of the Supreme Court Order for some ulterior motives," the letter written by AOR Rein addressed to Supreme Court Judges including CJI states. (emphasis supplied)

The letter adds that the IC Mahurkar had tried to create an apprehension in the mind of the public regarding the integrity of the Judges and had done wrong to the public. It has also been stated that IC Mahurkar had attempted to shake the confidence of the public in the Judges of the Top Court.

Significantly, the letter by AOR Rein further states that if Supreme Court would ignore to discipline such officers, who are performing quasi-judicial functions, for their scurrilous attack on this court, the same would only result in encouraging repetition of the same by other such officers thereby resulting in further lowering the prestige and authority of the court.

Read more about IC Mahurkar's order here: Supreme Court's 1993 Order On Salaries To Imams Violated Constitution Of India, Set A Wrong Precedent: CIC

It may be noted that earlier, AOR Rein had written a letter to the Attorney General for India, R. Venkataramani, seeking his consent for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against the IC Mahurkar, however, on December 9, he had declined to grant him consent by observing thus:

"I have given my anxious consideration to the case and the nature of observations made in the order in question, which are not relevant for the disposal of the case. In my considered opinion, however, the case does not warrant cognizance of criminal contempt under Section 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, especially in view of the fact that the order in question would be amenable to an appellate review. I think where appellate processes are open to the parties, a contempt process may not be always in order."

In his letter to the Supreme Court Judges, AOR Rein also said that he disagrees with the observations made by Attorney General for India Venkataramani in response to his letter written to him seeking consent.

"The present applicant (Rein) being an officer of this Hon'ble Court, most humbly and with the utmost respect for the learned Attorney General of India, disagrees with the above view and feels that the right of appellate processes available to the parties against the order of the Information Commissioner, does not give the Information Commissioner a right to commit contempt of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, nor can it be used as a cover to bring the authority of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India into disrespect and disregard," AOR Rein's letter adds.