New Delhi, Nov. 4: Ratna Singh, head of legal affairs at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), faces possible criminal contempt proceedings over her social media remarks against a judicial officer at Delhi’s Saket Court.
Delhi government Additional Standing Counsel (Criminal) Amol Sinha granted consent to initiate the proceedings. Advocate Kaushik Chatterjee had sought permission to initiate contempt action against Singh.
Singh allegedly accused the Judicial Magistrate of acting under the influence of an external authority. In a post on X, she wrote that the judge was “serving the master” and questioned the conduct of the hearing.
In another post, Singh alleged that both the Delhi Police and the judge were following instructions from the same external authority.
Ratna Singh | Consent Granted Under Contempt of Courts Act
Sinha said judicial orders could face criticism over their reasoning, legality and correctness. He cited the Supreme Court’s judgment in P.N. Duda v. V.P. Shiv Shankar (1988), which recognised the right to fair criticism of judicial functioning.
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However, he distinguished criticism of a judicial decision from allegations that a judge acted under external influence or improper motives.
Sinha said the remarks appeared, primary facie, to fall within the scope of criminal contempt. He granted consent under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
He clarified that his opinion did not amount to a final finding of criminal contempt. The matter remains subject to independent consideration by the Delhi High Court.
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