They Said No Appeal Lay. The Court Said This Was Never A Contempt Order At All.
Contempt orders are largely unappealable. The Calcutta High Court has explained the exception: where the judge had no jurisdiction to entertain the contempt at all, the route is different.
The Court held the Single Judge lacked jurisdiction to entertain the contempt proceeding, so the order is a nullity and the appeal lies not under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 but under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent. The authorities cited against the appeal all concern Section 19 appeals and did not apply. The order and all consequential steps were set aside.
- Section 19 is narrow. No appeal lies against declining to initiate, dropping, acquitting or exonerating.
- Clause 15 of the Letters Patent is the other door, and it opens where the order is a nullity.
- A decree that is a nullity cannot be executed, and the distinction from a merely illegal decree did not help the respondents.
- Everything built on the order fell with it, not only the order itself.
- Court
- High Court at Calcutta
- Bench
- Justice HON'BLE JUSTICE HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, Justice HON'BLE JUSTICE OM NARAYAN RAI
- Citation
- MAT No. 2003 of 2024
- Case
- MAT No. 2003 of 2024
- Decided
- 7 September 2026
- Outcome
- Appeal allowed; contempt order and all consequential steps set aside
The objection to the appeal
The respondents relied on a line of authority for the proposition that neither an order declining to initiate proceedings for contempt, nor an order dropping such proceedings, nor an order acquitting or exonerating a contemnor is appealable under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
Why those authorities did not apply
The Court had already held that the Single Judge lacked jurisdiction to entertain the application for contempt.
The present appeal is therefore not one under Section 19 of the 1971 Act at all, but under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent.
The further authorities relied on reiterate that a decree which is a nullity cannot be executed. The distinction drawn in them between a decree that is a nullity and one that is merely illegal did not assist the respondents, because here the impugned order was found to be a nullity.
The order
For those reasons the impugned order, and all consequential steps taken on the basis of it, were set aside.
The appeal was allowed, with no costs.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
Can you appeal an order dropping contempt proceedings?
Not under Section 19 of the 1971 Act. But where the judge had no jurisdiction to entertain the contempt at all, an appeal lies under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent.
What is the effect of calling an order a nullity?
It cannot be executed, and everything done on the basis of it falls with it.
Appealing an order made in a contempt proceeding
- Decide first whether you are attacking the exercise of contempt jurisdiction or its existence; only the second escapes Section 19.
- Plead want of jurisdiction expressly, so the appeal is framed under the Letters Patent rather than the Act.
- Where the order is a nullity, say so — a nullity cannot be executed and cannot stand.
- Ask for consequential steps to be set aside too; they do not fall automatically.
Source. High Court at Calcutta, MAT No. 2003 of 2024, decided 7 September 2026 by Justice HON'BLE JUSTICE HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, Justice HON'BLE JUSTICE OM NARAYAN RAI. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
Claw tracks High Court at Calcutta and 24 other High Courts, reads every order handed back, and surfaces the directions that carry a deadline. clawlaw.in