The court said that merely because subordinate officials acted in disregard of an order passed by the court, liability could not be fastened on higher officials in the absence of knowledge. The bench of Justice S K Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh observed, “There is no material to either establish their knowledge on the action of their subordinates or that they acted in collusion with each other.”
This was in respect to the levy made while upholding Section 21 of the Assam Agricultural Produce Market Act, 1972. The apex court’s judgment came on an appeal filed against the order of the Guwahati High Court where the appellants were guilty of willful disobedience of the order passed by the court. The court is not expected to conduct an inquiry and go beyond the judgment that was allegedly violated. The Supreme Court has said that indirect liability, as a principle cannot be applied to a case of contempt.
Vicarious liability cannot be applied to a case of contempt: Supreme CourtĬivil contempt means willful disobedience of a decision of the court
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