Civil contempt for breaching a stay order: prosecution based on the same file and facts was treated as wilful disobedience.

A prosecution or complaint founded on the same file and factual matrix covered by an express stay of proceedings amounts to wilful disobedience when pursued in disregard of that restraint. The Delhi HC found that the later criminal complaint and sanction for prosecution traced their basis to the very file and narrative already stayed by the earlier order, and that the respondents could not narrow the effect of the categorical stay by taking a different route. It also noted suppression of material orders passed in the petitioner's favour and an attempt to over-reach the restraint. On those facts, the ingredients of civil contempt were satisfied and the respondents were held guilty.

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Issues: Whether the respondents committed civil contempt by initiating a criminal complaint on the basis of the same file and proceedings that had been stayed by the Court's earlier order, thereby acting in wilful disobedience of that order.

Analysis: The order dated 12.04.2021 had specifically stayed the proceedings arising from the show cause notice and the underlying file number. The later complaint and sanction for prosecution were found to trace their foundation to the very same file and to the same factual narrative that had already been placed under stay. The Court held that the order was categorical and not capable of the restrictive interpretation suggested by the respondents. It also found that the respondents had suppressed material orders passed in the petitioner's favour and had attempted to over-reach the earlier restraint by pursuing prosecution through a different route. On these facts, the conduct was treated as deliberate and contumacious, satisfying the ingredients of civil contempt.

Conclusion: The respondents were held guilty of civil contempt for wilful breach of the Court's earlier directions.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a court has expressly stayed proceedings arising from a specified file or cause, a prosecution or complaint founded on the same file and factual foundation amounts to wilful disobedience if pursued in disregard of that stay.

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