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O.P. Verma v. Shahmal

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8176 of 2016)Decided 17 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8176 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Shiva Kirti Singh

Background

The appellant, a Junior Engineer with the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, carried out a building demolition while acting under the direct supervision of the Corporation's Commissioner and Joint Commissioner. The trial court found this demolition violated an injunction and, on a petition under Order 39 Rule 2A CPC, sentenced the appellant to one month's imprisonment; the High Court declined to interfere. Notably, the Commissioner and Joint Commissioner who had actually directed and supervised the demolition were themselves let off in the same proceedings, leaving only the appellant to face punishment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that since the appellant's superior officers, under whose direct supervision the allegedly contumacious act had been carried out, had already been discharged, it would be unjust to punish only the subordinate officer who was merely implementing their orders. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's judgment, and discharged the appellant from all charges, accepting the apology he had tendered in court.

Lesson Learnt

A junior official carrying out the direct orders of superiors should not alone bear contempt liability for an act while those superiors who actually directed it escape punishment: responsibility for defying a court order should track who actually exercised the supervisory authority, not just who physically carried out the act.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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