In Brief
Suman Chadha and his wife, directors of a company that defaulted on a bank loan, undertook to deposit Rs. 7 crores in installments to prevent loss of mortgaged properties. They failed to honor the commitment and issued worthless post-dated cheques. The High Court found them guilty of contempt and sentenced them to three months imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the contempt finding, holding that the petitioners' conduct—issuing false cheques, providing fabricated explanations, and misleading the court—demonstrated willful fraud upon the court itself. However, the Court reduced the sentence to time already served (11 days), considering the properties had since been sold and the petitioners' efforts were ultimately futile.
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