Karnataka HC Cautioned Law Book Publishers On Statute Printing

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Karnataka HC division Bench , including Justices Krishna S Dixit and N V Anjaria, cautioned law book publishers about the necessity of accuracy in printing statutes, noting the potential consequences of contempt of court for errors.

Karnataka : On March 27, A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court, comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice N V Anjaria, cautioned law book publishers to exercise care when printing statutes, highlighting the risk of facing contempt of court consequences for any printing errors.

In this instance, the state counsel relied on a notification with a printing mistake to counter the appellant’s challenge to a 2023 High Court order. The order directed the appellant to seek resolution of his land grant grievance from the jurisdictional assistant commissioner.

The state counsel argued that the petitioner should go to the assistant commissioner’s office and follow the revised rates outlined in the Karnataka Land Grant rules notification mentioned in a particular publication by a private company.

The notification, containing a printing error, reportedly described a rule amendment as a substitution. However, the appellant’s counsel argued that the amendment mentioned by the state counsel was not a substitution, contrary to what published.

The court observed,

Without his intervention, we could have been misled by the incorrect version, greatly harming citizens. It’s clear that just as no one should suffer for a mistake of law, the same applies to mistakes made by Law Publishers. It’s important to emphasize that those who print and publish statutes and statutory instruments must be extra careful. Otherwise, they risk facing charges such as contempt of court, perjury, and similar offenses, and may also be banned from participating in public tenders to supply their publications.

The court noted that sending the appellant to the assistant commissioner was unnecessary, as only the matter of payment for the grant remained. The grant order already been confirmed by the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal.

Subsequently, the court issued a writ to the State, instructing them to finalize the land grant and to collect fees according to the previous land rules.