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Court sentenced Sharma to six weeks of simple imprisonment and allowed his request to visit his hotel and check out before being taken into custody and transferred to Tihar Jail
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sentenced one Naresh Sharma to six months of simple imprisonment for committing criminal contempt of court. This action was taken after Sharma had filed a petition before the court to impose the death penalty upon a sitting judge of the high court.
A division bench, comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Shalinder Kaur, found Naresh Sharma guilty of criminal contempt due to his use of derogatory language when referring to the judge who dismissed his initial petition. In a striking statement, Sharma even went so far as to label the judge a 'thief.'
The court, in its judgment, observed that Sharma had exhibited no remorse for his actions and refused to offer an unconditional apology for his conduct.
“Having considered the material placed on record, submissions of Contemnor and the counsel opposite, this Court is of the opinion that Contemnor has no repentance for his conduct and actions. Accordingly, we hereby hold the Contemnor guilty of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and consequently, we sentence him to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 6 months with a fine of Rs.2,000/- and in default of payment of fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment of seven days. The Contemnor is directed to be taken into custody by HC [Head Constable] Vinod (Naib Court), who shall hand over his custody to the Tihar Jail, Delhi, today itself,” the bench ordered.
Sharma had filed the plea alleging corruption within the Indian government since the country's independence and demanding an investigation into these allegations. This initial petition was dismissed by a single judge on July 27, 2023.
Subsequently, Sharma filed appeals challenging this judgment, which were scheduled for a hearing before a bench presided over by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula on August 31.
Upon examination of the appeals, the court noted that they contained numerous "unsubstantiated and whimsical allegations of criminal acts" against the single judge and the Supreme Court of India. As a result, the court had issued a show-cause notice to Sharma for criminal contempt of court and placed the matter before the roster bench.
During the proceedings, the court expressed its profound shock at the statements made by Sharma. It emphasized that Sharma, who claimed to have received education in engineering and science from esteemed institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and Bombay, as well as in the United States, should have a deep respect for the Constitution of India and faith in the legal system.
The court stressed that even if Sharma had strong feelings of outrage, he should have presented his grievances in a civilized manner while maintaining the dignity of the Court and the judicial process. The court found Sharma's response to the show-cause notices to be highly disrespectful, displaying a complete absence of remorse.
It noted that Sharma had used derogatory language to the extent of accusing the learned single-bench judge of being a 'thief' and claimed to possess indisputable evidence to support this accusation.
Conclusively, court sentenced Sharma to six weeks of simple imprisonment and allowed his request to visit his hotel and check out before being taken into custody and transferred to Tihar Jail.
Case Title: Court on its own motion v. Naresh Sharma
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