Section 19: Appeals

The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971

(1) An appeal shall lie as of right from any order or decision of the High Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction to punish for contempt—

(a) where the order or decision is that of a single judge, to a Bench of not less than two judges of the Court;

(b) where the order or decision is that of a Bench, to the Supreme Court:

Provided that where the order or decision is that of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner in any Union territory, such appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court.

(2) Pending any appeal, the appellate Court may order that—

(a) the execution of the punishment or order appealed against be suspended;

(b) if the appellant is in confinement, he be released on bail; and

(3) Where any person aggrieved by any order against which an appeal may be filed satisfies the High Court that he intends to prefer an appeal, the High Court may also exercise all or any of the powers conferred by sub-section (2).

(4) An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed—

(a) in the case of an appeal to a Bench of the High Court, within thirty days;

(b) in the case of an appeal to the Supreme Court, within sixty days,

from the date of the order appealed against.

Questions on this section

1 question in 1 of our papers cite Section 19. Try these from the free papers:

1. With reference to Sanjay Prasad v. Madhusudan Dwivedi, decided by the Supreme Court on 14 October 2026, consider the following statements: 1. No appeal under Section 19(1) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 is maintainable unless the order is one punishing the contemnor in exercise of the jurisdiction to punish for contempt. 2. Proceedings for civil contempt are not decided in exercise of 'criminal jurisdiction', so a High Court rule barring intra-court appeals from orders in criminal jurisdiction does not, for that reason, bar such appeals. 3. The Bench doubted Ram Kishan Fauji v. State of Haryana (2017) on intra-court appeals from orders under Article 226 and directed that the question be placed before the Chief Justice for reference to an appropriate Bench. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?