In Brief
A husband and wife, directors of a company with loan obligations to Central Bank of India, gave an undertaking to the court to deposit funds in instalments to prevent property foreclosure. They issued post-dated cheques that bounced and failed to appear in court, claiming false debtor defaults later exposed by investigation. The High Court convicted them of contempt and sentenced them to three months' imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, finding the undertaking was made in bad faith to defraud the court, not merely a failure to comply. However, recognizing the properties had already been sold and the petitioners had served 11 days in custody, the Court reduced the sentence to the period already served.
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