Delhi HC holds dozen guilty of contempt for assaulting court commissioners in Kolkata

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday held 12 persons guilty of contempt for obstructing and assaulting court-appointed commissioners during their official visit to Kolkata.

The high court sentenced the 12 contemnors to a day's simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 each, holding them guilty of interfering in the administration of justice and criminal contempt.

A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidhyanathan Shankar handed down the punishment and noted though the respondents had tendered unconditional apologies, the advocate commissioners of the court were manhandled and suffered injuries along with the police officers accompanying them.

The contemnors in the case were stated to be shopkeepers and salespersons.

The high court-appointed advocate commissioners were asked to visit shops in Kolkata and prepare inventory of counterfeit products being sold under the trademark "Samsung" or its oval slanted logo or any other mark deceptively similar to its trademark.

The officials were asked to seize all such articles, seal them and then release them on superdari (legal process of temporarily handing over seized property to its rightful owner or a claimant for safe custody) with directions to produce them before the court as and when required.

"The court commissioners have been brutally beaten up by the contemnors, striking terror in their minds and forcing them to flee from the place. The facts reveal that the idea was to dissuade local commissioners from performing the work assigned to them by the court," the order read.

If not dealt with heavy hands, the court said, the majesty of law will come down in the eyes of ordinary citizens which will have a "deleterious effect" on the society's fabric.

"It is, therefore, imperative; rather, the duty of the court, to ensure that people who interfere in the administration of justice are dealt with severely so that people respect and adhere to law for the rule of law to prevail," the court said.

The contempt proceedings were initiated after one of the 11 advocate commissioners claimed being attacked by an unruly mob that gathered to prevent them from performing the judicial work.

The matter related to a suit filed by Samsung Electronics Company Limited which of having learnt that several vendors in Khidderpore area of Kolkata were selling counterfeit products including hand held phones, cell phones, tablets and accessories, bearing its trademark.

The plea identified several markets where shops were selling Samsung's counterfeit products. PTI SKV SKV AMK AMK