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THE CONTEMPT OF COURTS ACT, 1993 THE CONTEMPT OF COURTS ACT, 1993 (ACT XXVII OF 1993) (Dated June 26, 1993) WHEREAS it is necessary and expedient to provide for and enforce the law relating to Contempt of Courts in the manner hereinafter appearing; It is hereby enacted as follows :‑ 3. Contempt of Court.‑--- Whoever disobeys or disregards any order, direction or process of a court, which he is legally bound to obey; or commits a willful breach of a valid undertaking given to a Court ; or does anything which is intended to 'or tends to bring the authority of a Court or the administration of law into disrespect or disrepute, or to interfere with or obstruct or interrupt or prejudice the process of law or the due course of any judicial proceedings, or to lower the authority of a court or to scandalize a judge in relation to his office, or to disturb the order or decorum of a Court, is said to commit "Contempt of Court"; Provided that the following shall not amount to commission of contempt of Court‑‑‑ (i) fair comments about the general working of Court made in good faith in the public interest and in temperate language; (ii) fair comments on the merits of a decision of Court made, after the pendently of the proceedings in a case, good faith and in temperate language without in Pugning the integrity or impartiality of the Judge ; (iii) subject to a prohibition of publication under Section 9 or under any other law for the time being in force, the publication of a fair and substantially accurate report of any judicial proceedings; (iv) the publication of any matter, amounting to a contempt of court by reason of its being published during the pendently of some judicial proceedings, by a person who had no reasonable ground for believing that such judicial proceedings were pending at the time of the publication of the matter; (v) the distribution of a publication, containing matter amounting to contempt of court, by a person who had no reasonable ground for believing that the publication contained or was likely to contain, any such matter; (vi) a true averment made in good faith and in temperate language or an evidence given in pursuance for initiation of action or in the course of disciplinary proceedings against a Judge, before the Chief Justice of High Court, the Chief Justice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Judicial Council, the President, the Prime Minister, Azad Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir or the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council; (vii) a plea of truth taken up as a defence in terms of clause (vi) in proceedings for contempt of court arising from earlier averment unless it is mendaciously false; (viii) relevant observations made in a judicial capacity, such as, those by a higher court on an appeal or revision or application for transfer of a case, or by a court in judicial proceedings against a Judge; (ix) remarks made in an administrative capacity by any authority or officer in the course of official business, including those in connection with a disciplinary inquiry or in an inspection note or a character roll or confidential report; and (x) a true statement made in good faith respecting the conduct of a judge in a matter not connected with the performance of his judicial functions.