In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's conviction of three individuals for criminal contempt of court. They created forged High Court interim orders dated 12 March 2018 purportedly issued by Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and used them during execution proceedings to fraudulently prevent a decree's implementation. The court confirmed that contempt proceedings initiated within one year are not barred by limitation even if notice was issued later due to administrative delays. The appellants were guilty for creating the fake orders, facilitating their use, and proposing the scheme. The Court modified the sentence from six months to one month imprisonment, finding the original sentence harsh despite the gravity of forging judicial orders.
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