Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Court of additional sessions judge Paras Jain, on Saturday, stayed the Dhar civil court’s verdict that sentenced three-month detention in jail to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Bondar Singh Kalesh in a contempt of court case. The then SDM of Sardarpur, Kalesh appeared in the appellate district additional sessions court of Sardarpur against the order of sending him to civil jail.
Earlier, on January 30, court of judge class II (junior division) Mahendra Singh Mehsan found the SDM guilty and pronounced the verdict and sentenced him to three months of civil jail, until the court should not give order for his release, for contempt of court. Kalesh is currently posted in Bhikangaon in Khargone district.
Talking to Free Press, the applicant's lawyer Anshul Rajpurohit said that the SDM who has judicial power to deliver justice is today being taken to court for his own mistakes. What could be bigger than this?
Advocate Rajpurohit added, "My client Manohar Jain (90) in Rajgarh, Dhar district, had a house built in Rajgarh municipal area which was about 100 years old property. The Municipality had issued a notice for its demolition. Following which our client demolished that property and constructed another again after obtaining permission from the municipality in 2018."
When the property was completely constructed, the then SDM officer posted in the area Bondar Singh Kalesh, harassed his client unconstitutionally and issued a notice to demolish the property, after which they approached the civil court, he added.
He further said, "The civil court issued a stay on the notice and despite being aware of the stay of the civil court, the SDM partially demolished the building. After this, we moved an application for breach of injunction in the court. During the hearing on Tuesday (January 30), the court considered the SDM guilty and ordered a three-month civil imprisonment against him."
Besides, Rajpurohit said that they had also challenged the order of the SDM about demolishing the property in the High Court. After which the Indore bench of MP High Court allowed their writ petition and accepted that the order given by the SDM Bondar Singh was wrong and he (SDM) had no right to pass such an order.
The court also ordered an inquiry should be conducted by the Dhar collector against the SDM and ordered to provide compensation of Rs 25,000 to the petitioner.
