Observing that the power to punish for criminal contempt is not a “personal armour” for judges to stifle criticism, the Supreme Court on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) set aside an April 23 order of the Bombay High Court that had held a Navi Mumbai woman guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced her to one week’s simple imprisonment for circulating a housing society notice referring to judges as part of a “dog mafia.”

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that the woman had expressed unconditional remorse at the earliest stage and had tendered an unqualified apology for her conduct.

“In exercise of contempt jurisdiction, courts must remain conscious that this power is not a personal armour for judges, nor a sword to silence criticism. After all, it requires fortitude to

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