Willful Defiance Of Order: Andhra Pradesh HC Sentences IAS Officer To 2 Weeks Imprisonment In Contempt Case

This comes in the background wherein the Court had ordered the Collector to follow the order of the Court and allow the Petitioners to present their case. The Collector passed an order without the Petitioner able to put forth their plea.

A Single Judge Bench headed by Justice R. Raghunandan Rao said that” The fact remains that the 1st respondent while, passing the order dated 08.11.2017, had clearly ignored the directions of this Court and the said order is a clear violation of the directions of this Court. The conduct of the 1st respondent in this regard exhibits a clear refusal to comply with the directions of this Court. The 1st respondent may claim that he had undertaken this course of action to protect the interests of the State. However, such a claim cannot detract from the fact that there has been a clear willful disobedience of the orders of this Court. “

The Court further added that “The manner in which the proceedings have been initiated without seeking any extension of time and rejecting the application itself on the ground of a writ petition having been filed by the Revenue Department cannot be condoned on the altar of protection of State interest. The course of action that was open to the 1st respondent was to either approach this Court for extension of time for passing the orders or to obtain a stay of operation or suspension of the orders of the Commissioner appeals. The refusal of the 1st respondent to take up either course of action is a clear case of willful defiance of the orders of this Court.”

Senior Advocate K.S.Murthy appeared for the Petitioner while Advocate G. L. Narasimha Reddy appeared for the Respondents.

The case arose out of a land dispute which was declared as prohibited under Section 22(A) of the Indian Registration Act. The Land owners approached the High Court which directed the owners to approach the collector for the removal from prohibited list.

The owners approached the Collector however no action was taken which led the owners to approach the Court again. The Petitioners filed a contempt petition against the collector. After the contempt proceedings had been filed, the Collector passed an order rejecting the claim of the petitioners. The orders by the Collector were issued without any chance of hearing given to the Petitioners. Thereby the Petitioners approached the High Court against the Collector for willfully disregarding the Court’s order.

The Court while examining the actions taken by the Respondents said that “The ground for rejection, raised in the order dated 08.11.2017, is that the land has been classified as “Government Land” and that the Tahsildar had been instructed to take action for filing necessary appeals due to which the application of the petitioners is being rejected. The 1st respondent has obviously ignored the earlier proceedings of the Joint Collector which was affirmed by the Director of Settlements and subsequently the Commissioner of Appeals.”

The Court further held that “While the order, at a prima facie level, would amount to compliance of the directions of this Court, the same cannot be accepted on a closer look. The fact remains that the 1st respondent while, passing the order dated 08.11.2017, had clearly ignored the directions of this Court and the said order is a clear violation of the directions of this Court.”

For not following the Court’s orders, the High Court sentenced the Collector to 2 weeks imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 2,000.

Cause Title: I Srinivasa Rao and Ors v. Praveen Kumar

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