PARAGRAPH,WORDS AND MEANINGS
Topic Of The Day:-“Heavy-Handed Order: On Contempt Law”
The contempt law must not be used, or seen to be used, to stifle dissenting views
The Meghalaya High Court’s order finding the Editor and Publisher of Shillong Times guilty of contempt, and asking them to “sit in a corner” till the rising of the court and imposing a fine of ₹2 lakh each, is a heavy-handed response to comments in the newspaper on the court’s earlier orders. What makes the order even more unfortunate is the explicit threat to ban the newspaper and jail them if they fail to pay the fine. While courts are indeed empowered to decide whether a publication scandalised or tended to scandalise the judiciary or interfered with the administration of justice, there is no legal provision for an outright ban on it. The origin of thesecontempt proceedings appears to be the State government’s unilateral decision to withdraw certain facilities to retired judges without consulting the court administration. After the matter was not resolved on the administrative side for two months, the court initiated suo motu proceedings and issued some directions. It was because of a news item, accompanied by a commentary on the court’s directions, that the contemnors had incurred the court’s displeasure.
The offending comments appeared to imply that the directions regarding extending facilities, including protocol services and domestic help, and reimbursing communication bills up to ₹10,000 a month and a mobile phone worth ₹80,000, to retired judges amounted to “judges judging for themselves”. It is a moot question whether the court ought to have taken umbrage at this remark or ignored it. It would serve the cause of preserving the dignity of the higher judiciary if overzealous comments made by activists or journalists were ignored. In 1999, the Supreme Court had brushed aside some adverse remarks by activists by saying, “the court’s shoulders are broad enough to shrug off their comments.” However, in the case of Patricia Mukhim, the Editor ofShillong Times, the court has made sweeping remarks that the newspaper had always attacked individuals and institutions, had published propaganda calling for bandhs and “was always working against judges and the judicial system”. The defence argued the court should frame specific charges before convicting them for contempt. However, the matter was tried summarily. While it is open to the court to try a case of contempt in a summary manner, the use of personalised views of the publication’s past record to hand down the verdict puts a question mark over the decision-making process. While there may be a need to curb tendentious criticism of the judiciary and self-serving comments on ongoing proceedings in mainstream and social media, there is a compelling case to use the contempt law sparingly, and avoid the impression that it is being used to stifle free speech or dissent. Lenience, not anger, ought to be the primary response of a detached judiciary.
WORDS AND MEANINGS:-
1) imposing
Meaning : grand and impressive in appearance(adj).
Synonyms : appoint
Antonyms : displace
Example : “an imposing 17th-century manor house”
2) explicit
Meaning : stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt(adj).
Synonyms : accurate
Antonyms : careless
Example : “the arrangement had not been made explicit”
3) indeed
Meaning : used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested.
Synonyms : certainly
Antonyms : doubtfully
Example : “it was not expected to last long, and indeed it took less than three weeks”
4) scandalised
Meaning : shock or horrify (someone) by a real or imagined violation of propriety or morality(v).
Synonyms : defame
Antonyms : compliment
Example : “their lack of manners scandalized their hosts”
5) tended
Meaning : regularly or frequently behave in a particular way or have a certain characteristic(v).
Synonyms : contribute
Antonyms : dislike
Example : “written language tends to be formal”
6) interfered
Meaning : intervene in a situation without invitation or necessity(v).
Synonyms : hinder
Antonyms : advance
Example : “you promised not to interfere”
7) outright
Meaning : wholly and completely(adv).
Synonyms : absolute
Antonyms : imperfect
Example : “logging has been banned outright”
8) contempt
Meaning : the feeling that a person or a thing is worthless or beneath consideration(n).
Synonyms : antipathy
Antonyms : approval
Example : “Pam stared at the girl with total contempt”
9) unilateral
Meaning : (of an action or decision) performed by or affecting only one person, group, or country involved in a situation, without the agreement of another or the others(adj).
Synonyms : independent
Antonyms : multilateral
Example : “unilateral nuclear disarmament”
10) persistent
Meaning : continuing firmly or obstinately in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition(adj).
Synonyms : constant
Antonyms : broken
Example : “one of the government’s most persistent critics”
11) incurred
Meaning : become subject to (something unwelcome or unpleasant) as a result of one’s own behaviour or actions.
Synonyms : acquire
Antonyms : forfeit
Example : “I will pay any expenses incurred”
12) displeasure
Meaning : a feeling of annoyance or disapproval(n).
Synonyms : disapproval
Antonyms : approval
Example : “he started hanging around the local pubs, much to the displeasure of his mother”
13) reimbursing
Meaning : repay (a person who has spent or lost money)(v).
Synonyms : compensate
Antonyms : damage
Example : “the investors should be reimbursed for their losses”
14) overzealous
Meaning : too zealous in one’s attitude or behaviour(adj).
Synonyms : fanatical
Antonyms : rational
Example : “he’s been overzealous in handing out parking tickets”
15) convicting
Meaning : declare (someone) to be guilty of a criminal offence by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Synonyms : condemn
Antonyms : release
Example : “the theives were convicted of the robbery”
16) tendentious
Meaning : expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one(adj).
Synonyms : prejudicial
Example : “a tendentious reading of history”
17) proceedings
Meaning : an event or a series of activities involving a set procedure(n).
Synonyms : archives
Example : “you complete a form to start proceedings”
18) dissent
Meaning : the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held(n).
Synonyms : discord
Antonyms : acceptance
Example : “there was no dissent from this view”
19) detached
Meaning : aloof and objective.
Synonyms : isolated
Antonyms : attached
Example : “he is a detached observer of his own actions”
