NEW DELHI: On Friday, the Supreme Court found two individuals guilty of contempt for willfully disobeying its order to vacate their rental property in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The court imposed civil imprisonment on one of the individuals.
A bench led by Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi sentenced the contemnor to three months of civil imprisonment, directing authorities to detain him and transfer him to Tihar Jail.
This case arose from an Uttar Pradesh High Court ruling that upheld a directive from the Rent Control Authority for the eviction of the tenants involved.
The contemnor was also ordered to pay a fine of ₹1 lakh to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within two months; failure to do so would result in an additional month of imprisonment.
The bench stated, “Both contemnors are guilty of intentional and willful non-compliance with this court’s directives, making repeated misleading statements contrary to the record.”
Nevertheless, the court opted for leniency in the case of the first contemnor, imposing a fine of ₹50,000, which must also be paid within two months, with non-compliance resulting in one month of civil prison.
The second contemnor was sentenced to three months of civil imprisonment and fined ₹1 lakh, to be paid to the top court’s legal services committee within the same timeframe. Failure to pay the fine would lead to an additional month of civil imprisonment. “He shall be taken into custody by the court’s security personnel and handed over to Tihar Jail authorities to serve the sentence,” the bench ordered.
