Allahabad High Court
KUSUM DEVI AND ANOTHERversusPARIKSHIT KHATANA
- Decided
- Bench
- ROHIT RANJAN AGARWAL
Holding
A prima facie case of contempt exists, but the court granted the opposite party further time to comply before proceeding with contempt proceedings.
Summary
The applicants filed a contempt application under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act alleging that the opposite party willfully disobeyed the High Court's order dated 25 September 2025 in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 29406 of 2025. The order was personally served on the opposite party on 21 January 2026, but compliance was not forthcoming. The court observed that a prima facie case of contempt existed but noted that no notice had been issued to the opposite party. Consequently, the court granted the opposite party an additional three months to comply and directed procedural steps for serving the order and contempt application. The court held that if compliance is not achieved, the applicants may approach the court again, and the contempt application was disposed of at this stage.
Issues considered
- Whether the opposite party's failure to comply with the order constitutes contempt under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act.
- Whether notice is required before initiating contempt proceedings.
- Whether the court may grant additional time for compliance before proceeding with contempt.
Legislation cited
- Contempt of Courts Act — s. 12
Subjects
- contempt of court
- willful disobedience
- Section 12
- High Court
- procedural compliance
- notice requirement
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
CONTEMPT APPLICATION (CIVIL) No. - 3045 of 2026
Kusum Devi And Another
.....Applicant(s)
Versus
Parikshit Khatana
.....Opposite
Party(s)
Counsel for Applicant(s) : Vaibhav Singh
Counsel for Opposite Party(s) :
Court No. - 9
HON'BLE ROHIT RANJAN AGARWAL, J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicants.
2. The present contempt application has been filed under Section 12 of the
Contempt of Courts Act for punishing the Opposite Party for willful
disobedience of the judgment and order dated 25.09.2025 passed by this
Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 29406 of 2025.
3. It is contended that applicants had filed aforesaid writ, which was
disposed of vide order dated 25.09.2025. Copy of the said order was
served to the opposite party personally on 21.01.2026, but the said
direction has not been complied with by the opposite party till date.
4. Prima facie, a case has been made out for punishing the opposite party
for willful disobedience of the judgment and order passed in the aforesaid
writ petition.
5. However, no notice is issued to the opposite party at this stage. The
opposite party is granted three months’ further time to comply with the
order dated 25.09.2025 passed by this Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition
No. 29406 of 2025 from the date of production of a certified copy of this
order.
6. The applicants shall supply a duly stamped registered envelope
addressed to the opposite party and another self-addressed envelope to the
office within one week from today. The office shall send a copy of this
CAPL No. 3045 of 2026
2
order along with the self-addressed envelope of the applicants with a copy
of contempt application to the opposite party within one week thereafter
and keep a record thereof.
7. The opposite party shall comply with the directions of the writ court
and intimate the applicants the order through the self-addressed envelop
within a week thereafter.
8. In case, the opposite party does not comply with the order, it would be
open to the applicants to approach this court again.
9. With the aforesaid observations, this application is finally disposed of
at this stage.
(Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.)
May 6, 2026
A. V. Singh
Digitally signed by :-
AJAY VIKRAM SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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