IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO.3607 OF 2002

S. Sharat Kumar and Anr.                    ...Appellant(s)

Versus

State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors.            ...Respondent(s)

O  R  D  E  R

This civil appeal arises out of an order passed by  

the High Court of Judicature, Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in  

Suo Motu Contempt Case No.974 of 1999 dated 19th February,  

2002.  By the impugned order, the High Court held that the  

appellants  have  committed  act  of  contempt  under  the  

provisions of Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, read with Article  

215 of the Constitution of India and sentenced each of them  

to one month's simple imprisonment.  However, in the interest  

of justice, the High Court has observed that the sentence  

shall remain suspended for a period of one year.  It further  

observed  that  if,  during  the  period  of  one  year,  the  

contemnors are punished again in a contempt proceeding, the  

order sentencing them shall become operative automatically;  

however, if they are not convicted for contempt during the  

period  of  one  year,  the  sentence  of  imprisonment  awarded  

against them shall not be carried out.

This  Court,  while  entertaining  the  special  leave  

petition,  granted  an  interim  order  in  favour  of  the  

appellants.  That interim order is still in operation.

....2/-

- 2 -

At  the  time  of  hearing  of  the  civil  appeal,  the  

contemnors have filed affidavits.  In that affidavits they  

have  offered  unconditional  apology  for  having  written  the  

controversial  news  items  in  one  of  the  newspapers.   The  

contemnors are advocates and they were also journalists at  

the relevant point of time.   

Taking into consideration the unconditional apology  

offered by them, in our opinion, the sentence of imprisonment  

imposed on the appellants by the High Court requires to be  

set aside.  Accordingly, we take the affidavits filed by the  

two contemnors on record and set aside the conviction and  

sentence imposed on them by the High Court.  We hope and  

trust that the contemnors shall not commit the contempt again  

and shall not write any articles in any newspapers, which  

would  not  only  bring  down  their  prestige  but  also  the  

prestige of the Institution.

The civil appeal is, accordingly, allowed.

......................J.               [H.L. DATTU]

......................J.               [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN]

New Delhi, April 27, 2010.