The Delhi High Court sentenced a businessman to one month in jail for criminal contempt after he threatened a court-appointed commissioner with a gun during an inspection, calling his act a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sentenced businessman Nitin Bansal to one month’s simple imprisonment after finding him guilty of criminal contempt of court for threatening a court-appointed local commissioner with a gun during a judicial inspection in Faridabad.
The ruling came from a Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta. Along with imprisonment, the contemnor has been ordered to pay a fine of ₹2,000, failing which his sentence will be extended by 15 more days.
Court Observations
The Bench observed that Nitin Bansal’s conduct reflected an “evil motive” and a “deliberate attempt to interfere with the administration of justice.”
“The non-cooperative conduct of the Contemnor, coupled with the fact that the gun was placed on the table by him during the proceedings being conducted by the Local Commissioner, sufficiently demonstrates that the Contemnor intended to obstruct the task entrusted to her by the Court,”
the Bench noted.
The Court held that Bansal’s actions constituted criminal contempt under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and warranted imprisonment.
The Incident
The contempt proceedings arose from a dispute over the disposal of 30,000 tonnes of industrial coal involving Bansal’s father, Ashok Bansal. Earlier in May 2024, the Delhi High Court had restrained Ashok Bansal from dealing with the coal.
Following allegations that the court’s order had been violated, advocate Nandini Bali was appointed as a Local Commissioner to inspect the firm’s premises in Faridabad.
According to the commissioner’s report, Nitin Bansal arrived during the inspection, acted aggressively, and placed a pistol on the table to intimidate the commissioner and the accompanying police officers. Police later seized the weapon, which was found to be an unlicensed air gun, not a toy, as Bansal had claimed.
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During contempt hearings, the seized weapon was produced before the court and confirmed to be a real air gun. The Bench found Bansal’s defence “false and misleading” and described his apology as mere “lip service” lacking genuine remorse.
Initially, the Bench directed police to take Bansal into custody immediately from the High Court premises. However, on his counsel’s plea citing a family wedding, the Court granted him time to surrender by November 6, 2025.
Appearance:
For the contemnor: Senior Advocate MC Dhingra with advocates Nihal Ahmad, HR Khan and Kashif Salman
Case Title:
Court on its own motion v Nitin Bansal
CONT.CAS.(CRL) 16/2024
READ ORDER