Delhi Counsel Consents to Contempt Proceedings Against Ratna Singh

Delhi government counsel Amol Sinha has consented to the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Ratna Singh over social-media posts criticizing a judicial officer at Saket Court. The consent is preliminary and does not determine whether Singh is in contempt; the Delhi High Court must consider the matter independently. Sinha, an Additional Standing Counsel (Criminal) for the Delhi government, granted consent under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, after advocate Kaushik Chatterjee requested proceedings against Singh, identified in the report as the legal affairs head of the Cockroach Janta Party. The posts concerned a Judicial Magistrate’s handling of a hearing at Saket Court. Singh alleged the judge was acting under instructions from an external authority and criticized the hearing and the reasoning of the resulting order. In one post, she accused the judge of “serving the master” and referred to breaks during the hearing; in another, she said both Delhi Police and the judge were following an order from a “master.” In his reply granting consent, Sinha said the remarks appeared, on a prima facie basis, to fall within criminal contempt because they...