Attorney General of India K K Venugopal has declined a request for consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against Kapil Sibal for certain remarks that he made during a speech on the subject of “Judicial Rollback of Civil Liberties”.

Contempt is "the disobedience of a court order" as well as "activity aiming to obstruct or interfere with the administration of justice in an orderly fashion."

The Contempt of Courts Act of 1971 defines contempt of court as either civil or criminal contempt.

Civil contempt is defined as "willful disobedience to any court decision, decree, direction, order, writ, or other procedure, or willful breach of an undertaking provided to the court."

Criminal contempt is attracted by "the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise) or the doing of any other act whatsoever which: scandalises or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court; or prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs, or tends to interfere.

Source: The Indian Express

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/plea-contempt-action-against-sibal-the-law-a-g-decision-8128859/