State v Chand [2020] FJHC 1093; HAC123.2019 (22 December 2020)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI

AT SUVA

[CRIMINAL JURISDICTION]

Criminal Case No. 123 OF 2019

BETWEEN

STATE

AND

RAVINESH CHAND

Counsel

Ms S Sharma for the State
Ms L Manulevu (Duty Solicitor) for the Accused

Hearing: 22 December 2020

Judgment/Sentence: 22 December 2020

Judgment and Sentence – Contempt of Court

[1] After the offender was found guilty of sexual offences, he absconded bail in defiance of a clear order of the court to appear for his sentence on 15 December 2020. When the offender failed to appear for his sentence on 15 December 2020, he was sentenced in absentia on 16 December 2020. The offender was apprehended on 20 December 2020 after a team of police officers were deployed to arrest him on a warrant issued by this court.

[2] Following his arrest, the offender was summoned by the court to show cause why he should not be summarily held for contempt of the court for wilfully or intentionally defying the directive of the court to appear for his sentence for sexual offences after a finding of guilt was made against him. Contempt of court is a summary offence pursuant to section 194 of the Crimes Act. The maximum penalty is 3 months imprisonment. The statutory provision is addition to and not in derogation from the power of any court to punish for contempt of court.

[3] When the charge of contempt of court was orally put to the offender he pleaded guilty to the charge and apologized to the court. He said he acted on the spur of the moment without much thought regarding the consequences of actions after the court found him guilty of sexual offences. He is 38 years old and has a family. He seeks a concurrent sentence.

[4] The Court finds the conduct of the offender a wilful disrespect to a judicial proceeding. He was aware of the directive of the court to appear for his sentence for sexual offences after a finding of guilt was made against him. He defied that directive and absconded from the court. He left Suva and was arrested in Sigatoka after five days of manhunt by the Fiji Police Force. The State’s resources were used to apprehend him. The Fiji Police Force classified the case as a national interest.

[5] I take into account the offender’s early guilty plea, apology and the expression of remorse. However, the purpose of the contempt law is to uphold the dignity of the court and its processes. When a person by his conduct brings disrepute to a court process by defying an order or directive of the court, then the purpose of the punishment is deterrence, both personal and general.

[6] The Court finds the offender guilty of contempt of court for absconding from the court in breach of a directive to be present for his sentence for sexual offences on 15 December 2020.

[7] The offender is sentenced to 1 month imprisonment for contempt of court, to be served consecutively with his sentence for sexual offences imposed on 16 December 2020.

Justice Daniel Goundar

Solicitors
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the State
Legal Aid Commission for the Accused