Mumbai: Observing that three senior civic officials had flagrantly overstepped their duties, the Bombay High Court last week imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on each of them, for acting against court orders.
The court noted that the trio, including a deputy municipal commissioner (DMC), had defied its orders in a 'contemptuous' manner.
A bench of Justices Shahrukh Kathawalla and Burgess Colabawalla has ordered the three officials to pay Rs one lakh each to the Tata Memorial Hospital.
The bench imposed the fine while hearing a contempt petition filed by the tenants of a building at Sion-Koliwada, which was ordered to be demolished.
The tenants had, earlier in 2016, moved the high court challenging an expert report which had recommended demolition of their building as it was in a dilapidated condition.
Another bench of Justice (now retd.) Naresh Patil had allowed the demolition of the building after considering the experts’ report and photographs, which showed the condition of the structure.
At that time, some tenants of the building, with shops on the ground floor, sought a review of Justice Patil's orders and urged that since the shops were in a good condition, these need not be demolished. However, this request too was turned down.
Subsequently, two officials of the civic body - Merai, the designated officer and Kishore Ubale, assistant municipal commissioner (AMC), wrote a letter to Narendra Barde, the DMC of the F north ward, recommending that the shops be protected.
The duo, in their letter, convinced Barde that neither the high court, nor the Supreme Court, had passed any orders against the shops on the ground floor.
Accordingly, Barde passed a fresh order, allowing the shopkeepers to run their business as usual. Irked by the conduct of these officials, Justice Kathawalla, who was hearing a contempt petition against the trio, noted,
“Though the courts has repeatedly witnessed the defiant and, at times, even illegal conduct of some of the parties before it, in the instant case, the officials of the BMC have flagrantly overstepped their duty and shown scant regard for the orders passed by this court.”
In fact, at the instance of some of the tenants, these officials have dared to virtually set aside the orders passed by this court.
These officials, to favour the shopkeepers, or for reasons best known to them, by their contemptuous conduct, not only substituted the decision of this court but also of the apex court,” Justice Kathawalla noted. The court further held the trio to be guilty of Contempt of Courts Act.
“In view of the contemptuous conduct of the officers, we proposed that they need to be sentenced to civil prison. However, they have expressed sincere remorse with regard to their conduct and have tendered an unconditional apology,” the court said.
“Thus, the trio must pay Rs one lakh fine and the same shall be donated to Tata Memorial Hospital within a week,” Justice Kathawalla said, disposing of the case.
