Future Coupons Private Limited Vs Amazon.Com NV Investment Holdings LLC (Supreme Court of India)
The allegation of wilful disobedience being in the nature of criminal liability, the same has to be proved to the satisfaction of the court that the disobedience was not mere ‘disobedience‘ but ‘wilful‘ and ‘conscious‘. This Court in the case of Ram Kishan v. Tarun Bajaj, (2014) 16 SCC 204, considering the implication of exercise of contempt jurisdiction, held that the power must be exercised with caution rather than on mere probabilities. While delineating the conduct which can be held to be “wilful disobedience”, this Court held that:
“12. Thus, in order to punish a contemnor, it has to be established that disobedience of the order is “wilful”. The word “wilful” introduces a mental element and hence, requires looking into the mind of a person/contemnor by gauging his actions, which is an indication of one’s state of mind. “Wilful” means knowingly intentional, conscious, calculated and deliberate with full knowledge of consequences flowing therefrom. It excludes casual, accidental, bona fide or unintentional acts or genuine inability. Wilful acts does not encompass involuntarily or negligent actions. The act has to be done with a “bad purpose or without justifiable excuse or stubbornly, obstinately or perversely”. Wilful act is to be distinguished from an act done carelessly, thoughtlessly, heedlessly or inadvertently. It does not include any act done negligently or involuntarily. The deliberate conduct of a person means that he knows what he is doing and intends to do the same. Therefore, there has to be a calculated action with evil motive on his part. Even if there is a disobedience of an order, but such disobedience is the result of some compelling circumstances under which it was not possible for the contemnor to comply with the order, the contemnor cannot be punished. “Committal or sequestration will not be ordered unless contempt involves a degree of default or misconduct.”
(Emphasis supplied)
Considering the fact that in the suit instituted by FRL, the learned Single Judge had earlier allowed FRL and Amazon to continue their pursuit before various regulatory authorities, and in view of the interim orders of this Court dated 22.02.2021 and 09.09.2021, and the Courts below, we are inclined to setaside aforesaid directions as the precondition of ‘sufficient mental element for wilful disobedience’ is not satisfied. Moreover, Mr. Gopal Subramanium, learned Senior Advocate appearing for Amazon, has fairly stated that Amazon is not interested in proceeding with the punitive directions. Taking note of the aforesaid submission, we set aside the punitive directions issued in the impugned orders of learned Single Judge dated 02.02.2021 and 18.03.2021.
