Madras HC sentences senior IAS officer to 1 month simple imprisonment for contempt
Madras HC sentenced IAS officer Anshul Mishra to 1 month imprisonment for contempt, ordering ₹25,000 compensation to petitioners for non-compliance.
The Madras high court has sentenced senior IAS officer Anshul Mishra to 1 month simple imprisonment for contempt of court. Justice P Velmurugan passed the order against the officer for not complying with court orders and directed him to pay a compensation of ₹25,000 from his salary to the two petitioners in the case- siblings. However, the court suspended the sentence giving him time for 30 days to file an appeal. The officer has been the managing director of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development since February and was the Member Secretary of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) when the court had issued the department directions.
The petitioners, R Lalithambai and KS Viswanathan had filed a case that the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in 1983 had acquired 17 cents of their property in Chennai constructing tenements but it was not used. The high court disposed in November 2023 ordered the CMDA to consider their plea for the ownership of the property to be returned to them and pass an order within two months on the issue but when the department didn’t, the petitioners approached the HC again in August 2024. “In numerous cases, it is seen that poor and aggrieved litigants, after approaching public authorities for redressal of genuine grievances, are forced to approach the constitutional courts for directions,” the justice said. “Even after judicial intervention, the concerned authorities, for reasons best known to them, either delay or altogether ignore compliance, compelling the litigants to resort to contempt proceedings for enforcement of their rights.”
The court said that officers not complying with court orders was not an isolated incident. “The confidence of the citizens in the justice delivery system rests upon the assurance that the orders of the courts will be implemented promptly and effectively,” the court said. “Public service is not a privilege but a trust reposed in the officials by the people.”
