Douglas Breckenridge vs Jhilmil Breckenridge (Delhi HC) (Cont. Cas(C) 815/ 2011 and C.M.
No. 20360/2011)
66. It is evident that the respondent, seemingly with the aid and advice of her counsel had sought to mislead the courts dealing with the D.V. Act proceedings by suppressing material facts and orders passed by the learned Guardianship Judge with a view to gain advantage in the proceedings under the D.V. Act. It is clear that the respondent sought to overreach the Guardianship Court, and the orders passed by the said Court. The conduct of the respondent, seemingly aided and supported by conduct of her counsel, clearly tantamounted to playing a fraud upon the Court dealing with the D.V. Act proceedings as well as upon the petitioner. The respondent had abused the process of the Court by filing the D.V. Act proceedings with concealment of the orders, and proceedings already passed and undertaken before the learned Guardianship Judge. This concealment was calculated to hamper the due course of justice i.e to interfere with the order dated 30.09.2010 passed by the learned Guardianship Judge.
67. The respondent has made a mockery of the judicial process that undermines the dignity of the Court and the majesty of law. The conduct of the respondent tends to bring the authority and administration of law into disrespect and disregard. It seriously interferes with the rights of the petitioner. Abuse of the process of Court calculated to hamper the due course of judicial proceedings or the orderly administration of justice tantamount to contempt of Court (see Advocate General, State of Bihar V. Madhya Pradesh Khair Industries, (1980) 3 SCC 311 and Delhi Development Authority V. Skipper Construction & Anr, JT 1995(2) SC 391). Accordingly, the respondent is clearly guilty of contempt of Court.
68. The respondent cannot be heard in these proceedings unless she purges herself of the contempt so committed by her by forthwith placing the child Liam in the custody of the petitioner. As aforesaid, the proceedings launched under the D.V. Act are tainted by fraud, suppression and concealment and the orders passed therein by the learned M.M and learned ASJ are therefore a nullity.
69. So far as the conduct of the respondent’s counsel is concerned, the same is highly suspicious. If he is given the benefit of the doubt, his conduct is highly negligent and unprofessional, and the same deserves to be deprecated in the strongest terms. It is such conduct of counsel which brings the noble legal profession into disrepute and erodes the confidence of the litigating public and the courts in the professionals practicing the legal profession. The administration of judicial process and dispensation of justice by the Courts would become extremely difficult, if the members of the Bar do not maintain the highest standards of integrity and professionalism in pleading their cases before the Courts. Justice would become a casualty, even if temporarily. Though the law provides remedies to tackle such conduct on the part of litigants and their lawyers, and such myopic street smartness invariably eventually fails, it consumes a tremendous amount of material and other resources of the litigant who is a victim of such fraud, and also leads to immense waste of productive time of the Court which would otherwise be utilized in dealing with more deserving cases.
70. Now I may deal with two other decisions relied upon by the respondent. The reliance placed on the decision in Dinesh Kumar Gupta (supra) by the respondent is wholly misplaced. In this case, upon examination of facts the Court came to the conclusion that no case of contempt of court was made out. It was in this background that the Court observed that if an order is capable of more than one interpretation giving rise to variety of consequences, non-compliance of the same cannot be held to be willful disobedience of the order so as to make out a case of contempt entailing serious consequences. In the present case, it is evident that the orders dated 30.09.2010 and 05.04.2011 were unambiguous and clearly brought out the fact that the defacto custody of the child Liam was with the petitioner. There was no question of there being any ambiguity in those orders, or of their being interpreted in any other manner.
71. For the same reason, reliance placed on the decision in Anshuman (supra) is also of no avail to the respondents. The decision in Dr. Ashsih Ranjan (supra) has absolutely no relevance to the facts of the present case. That was a case where the visitation rights of the father had been frustrated by the respondent-mother who had the custody of the child. The Supreme Court held that on account of the denial of the visitation rights and the tutoring of the minor child, and in the light of the changed circumstances, the petitioner-father could seek review/modification of the orders regarding custody before the appropriate Court. The decision in the aforesaid case does not mean that in every case where there is willful and deliberate breach of the orders of the Court, or orders are obtained by playing a fraud upon the Court and the opposite party, the party guilty of committing contempt of Court can be allowed to get away with such contempt without being suitably dealt with by the Court.
72. In the light of the aforesaid discussion, I allow this petition. The respondent is found guilty of committing contempt of Court.
73. The respondent is guilty of disobeying the orders dated 30.09.2010 and 05.04.2011 passed by the leaned Guardianship Judge by removing the child Liam from the custody of the petitioner and by taking the said child into her own custody. The respondent is guilty of contempt of Court as she has abused the process of the Court, calculated to hamper the due course of judicial proceedings or the orderly administration of justice. She has made mockery of the judicial process.
74. I direct the respondent to purge the contempt by forthwith restoring the custody of the child Liam with the petitioner. I hold the orders passed by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate and learned ASJ in the proceedings initiated by the respondent under the D.V Act, in so far as they deal with the aspect of custody of the minor child Liam, to be null and void. I call upon the respondent to show cause as to why she should not be punished for contempt of Court. Let the requisite notice issue to her for this purpose.
75. The counsel for the respondent, Mr. Sashank Kumar Lal is cautioned for minding his conduct in future. He is advised to adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and integrity as an Advocate.
76. I subject the respondent to costs of Rs. 2,00,000/-, out of which Rs.1,00,000/- be paid to the Delhi Legal Services Committee and the remaining amount be paid to the petitioner within four weeks from today.