Mohammed Hanish v. Kadakampally Manoj - Kerala HC Act- Contempt - Appeal Before Division Bench
Kerala High Court Act, 1958 - Section 5 ; Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 - Section 19 - Appeal against an interlocutory order of a Single Judge of the Kerala High Court in contempt proceedings, where the High Court had only found a prima facie case of civil contempt and summoned him under Rule 14 of the 1971 Rules- SC held: Such an order is one passed in the exercise of the High Court’s original jurisdiction and is not yet an order “in the exercise of its jurisdiction to punish for contempt” so as to attract an appeal under Section 19(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, but that an intra‑court appeal lies under Section 5 of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958. On that basis, the Supreme Court declined to entertain the civil appeal, leaving the appellant to pursue the intra‑court remedy before the High Court.
Case Info
Case name: Mohammed Hanish v. Kadakampally Manoj
- Civil Appeal No. /2026 (arising out of SLP (C) No. 17581 of 2026)
- Order dated 15 May 2026
Coram:
- Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dipankar Datta
- Hon’ble Mr. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma
Judgment/order date: 15 May 2026, New Delhi
Case law and citations referred
- Suni B.T. v. Vinayaka Granities, 2024 SCC OnLine Ker 7614
- High Court of Allahabad v. Raj Kishore Yadav, (1997) 3 SCC 11
- Tirupathi Rao v. M. Lingamaiah, (2024) 20 SCC 188
- Baradakanta Mishra v. Justice Gatikrushna Misra, (1975) 3 SCC 535
- D.N. Taneja v. Bhajan Lal, (1988) 3 SCC 26
- State of Maharashtra v. Mahboob S. Allibhoy, (1996) 4 SCC 411
- Midnapore Peoples’ Cooperative Bank Ltd. v. Chunilal Nanda, (2006) 5 SCC 399
- Ajay Kumar Bhalla v. Prakash Kumar Dixit, (2024) 12 SCC 159
Statutes / Rules referred
- Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 – particularly Section 19(1)
- Kerala High Court Act, 1958 – Section 5 (referred to as the “1958 Act”)
- Contempt of Courts (High Court of Kerala) Rules, 1971 – Rule 14
Brief summary (three sentences)
The Supreme Court considered an appeal by Mohammed Hanish against an interlocutory order of a Single Judge of the Kerala High Court in contempt proceedings, where the High Court had only found a prima facie case of civil contempt and summoned him under Rule 14 of the 1971 Rules. The Court held that such an order is one passed in the exercise of the High Court’s original jurisdiction and is not yet an order “in the exercise of its jurisdiction to punish for contempt” so as to attract an appeal under Section 19(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, but that an intra‑court appeal lies under Section 5 of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958. On that basis, the Supreme Court declined to entertain the civil appeal, leaving the appellant to pursue the intra‑court remedy before the High Court and expressing hope that he would be given some breathing time regarding his appearance fixed on 18 May 2026.