MUMBAI : Bombay High Court on Monday sentenced a man to one month simple imprisonment after holding him guilty of contempt of court for posting malicious content against the judicial system on social networking sites.
A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai stayed their order to enable Dwarka Hiranandani (56) to appeal against it. The bench directed the State to arrest him after the appeal period is over. “You don’t have any right to scandalise the judiciary,” the judges told Hiranandani, who urged the court to show mercy to him saying he is the real victim.
The court heard a contempt petition filed by Hirandani’s sister-in-law Anita against him, his wife Duru and son Sunil in their dispute over a flat at Lokhandwala, Andheri (west). Her petition said High Court had transferred Dwarka’s civil suit to the City Civil Court but Hiranandani has been making scandalous allegations against not only the judges and the judicial system but even the advocates who appeared in the matter. The advocate general on December 2013 granted her permission to invoke the Contempt of the Court Act. In January 2014, a magistrate noted there was “continuous maligning of the judicial system.”
Anita’s advocate H S Shripad Murthy argued that Hiranandani has even posted these “scandalous allegations” on social media websites. He, however, said his client does not intend to press the contempt charge against Duru who is a housewife and Sunil who works abroad as their actions are at the behest of Hiranandani.
TOI | Dec 1, 2014
Contact Lawyers In India : https://lawintellectindia.com/contact-us/