Do you know that powers of a Judge to punish for his contempt was existing even before the Contempt of Court Act was passed by Parliament?
Even if there is no Law to punish for Contempt of Court, a judge has always inherent powers to punish for his contempt.
For punishing for Contempt, it is not necessary that Contemptuous Material should be on Record. (Vide Pre Independence Contempt case of KL Gabba.)
Truth is no defense in contempt proceedings. Even if what was said about the Judge is true, the Contempt punishment can still be made out.
The Judge has always inherent power to punish anyone who 1) Interferes with his judicial process 2) Lowers the dignity of office of a Judge 3) Or, who criticise the Judge. You can analyse and criticise his judgement but you cannot make personal attack on integrity or intellectual capacity of any Judge.
To understand Contempt Law, you have to study history of 500 years of development of Judiciary and Law of Contempt. There is time tested wisdom behind protecting Judges against personal attacks.
Haresh Raichura 11/11/16
