SUPREME COURT: FILING OF SUIT TO ASSERT RIGHTS CANNOT AMOUNT TO CONTEMPT OF COURT

The Supreme Court in the case M/S Shah Enterprises Thr. Padmaben Mansukhbhai Modi Versus Vaijayaniben Ranjitsingh Sawant And Ors. was hearing the appeal wherein the contempt plea is filed, the court observed that filing a suit to assert rights cannot amount to contempt of court.

The court in the case find that, by no stretch of imagination, it could be said that the filing of the suit for asserting the rights of the plaintiffs or respondent could be said to be amounting to contempt of the Court.

The bench comprising of Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Rajesh Bindal, and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing the present plea.

Facts of the Case: The land was given on lease to one Bapusaheb Bajirao Sawant.

Therefore, after two years, the lease deed was cancelled and 67 persons bought the land in question.

After the death of Sawant's, his legal heirs filed a suit claiming possession of the land in question based on the lease deed.

The compromise agreement was entered into between the heirs and the Original Owners of the subject property and this was recorded as a consent decree by the Trial Judge.