Letters Patent Appeal Not Maintainable Against Interlocutory Orders In Contempt Proceedings: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court held that a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) does not lie against interlocutory orders passed in contempt proceedings, reiterating that an appeal under Section 19(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act is maintainable only where the Court has actually imposed punishment for contempt.

The Division Bench comprising of Justices Sindhu Sharma, Shahzad Azeem observed that the impugned order dated 01.12.2023 merely directed the appellants to file a fresh compliance report and did not determine rights of the parties or punish them.

The court said that “Section 19(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act can be invoked only when a Court has actually decided to punish someone for contempt. Orders… that do not impose any punishment cannot be challenged under this section.”

It clarified that directions issued during the pendency of contempt proceedings are procedural in nature

It said “Routine orders passed while the contempt case is still ongoing do not come under Section 19… because they do not deal with the main question of contempt or impose any penalty.”

LPA under Clause 12 permissible only when order amounts to a 'Judgment'

Rejecting the alternative argument that the appeal was maintainable under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent, the Bench emphasised that only a decision finally determining some rights qualifies as a "judgment":

“The word 'Judgment'… is undoubtedly a concept of finality… intermediary and interlocutory orders which do not determine any right or issue between the parties cannot be said to be the judgment amenable to appellate jurisdiction under Clause 12.”

Relying on Midnapore Peoples' Cooperative Bank Ltd. v. Chuni Lal Nanda and its earlier decisions including Mohd. Tayoub Leharwal and Union Territory of JK v. Shahnaza Parveen, the Court concluded that contempt orders that merely facilitate proceedings are not appealable.

Case-Title: Commissioner Secretary to Government, Department of Rural Development & PR, Civil Secretariat vs Ryaz Ahmed, 2025

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