The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar has set aside a judgment of the Bombay High Court which had dismissed a contempt petition on the premise that the underlying court order was “capable of two interpretations.” The Apex Court held that the High Court erred in its view, affirming that the order in question contained clear and categorical directions. Consequently, the Bench restored the contempt proceedings for fresh consideration.

The central legal issue was whether the Bombay High Court was justified in dismissing a contempt petition by labeling the underlying order dated January 17, 2003, as ambiguous and capable of dual interpretation. The Supreme Court ruled that the High Court erred in this assessment. It held that

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