Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
Section 16: Contempt by judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially
(1) Subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, a judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially shall also be liable for contempt of his own court or of any other court in the same manner as any other individual is liable and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply accordingly.
(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any observations or remarks made by a judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially, regarding a subordinate court in an appeal or revision pending before such judge, magistrate or other person against the order or judgment of the subordinate court.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 16
- Vijay Kumar Agarwal v. Parveen Singh and Ors
- Naresh Sharma v. Union of India and Ors
- Court on Its Own Motion v. Naresh Sharma
- Court on Its Own Motion v. Naresh Sharma
- Naresh Sharma v. Union of India and Ors
- Naresh Sharma v. Union of India and Ors
- Court on Its Own Motion v. Naresh Sharma
- In Re: Ajay Kumar Pandey, Advocate v. ----
- State of Rajasthan v. Prakash Chand and Ors.
- In Re: Vinay Chandra Mishra (The Alleged Contemner) v. In Re : Vinay Chandra Mishra (The Alleged Contemner)
- Pritam Pal v. High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur Through Registrar
- S. K. Sarkar, Member, Board of Revenue, U.P., Lucknow v. Vinay Chandra Misra