J&K HC grants two days to DC to decide on apology to CJM court

Srinagar: J&K and Ladakh High Court on Monday granted two days to Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ganderbal to decide if he is willing to submit an affidavit of apology to a subordinate court in a criminal contempt case.

A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Sanjeev Kumar, while granting two days to Shyambir Singh, DC Ganderbal for making up his mind, listed the case for hearing on August 14.

“The contemnor orally submitted in this court that whatever he did was not intentional to undermine the dignity of the learned court. He asked for some time to think over whether he is willing to file an affidavit of apology and personally appear before the court below,” the division bench said in the order passed after Monday’s proceedings.

On August 5, the High Court directed Shyambir Singh DC Ganderbal to answer the charges of criminal contempt against him in person.

The proceedings against Shyambir Singh, a 2018 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre serving as Deputy Commissioner of Ganderbal since 2022, were initiated after allegations surfaced that he had retaliated against Ganderbal sub-judge, Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi and allegedly abused his official position to intimidate and harass him.

Qureshi had passed an order to attach Singh’s salary due to non-compliance with an October 2022 judgment.

According to the sub-judge, the Deputy Commissioner allegedly misused his position to harass him including unauthorised visits to his property by government officials.

This was perceived as an attempt to undermine judicial authority and retaliate against the court’s decision.

In ordering the criminal contempt proceedings last month, Qureshi also recommended that the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary should take administrative action against Shyambir Singh under the Government Conduct Rules, 1971, describing him as a “constant potential threat” to the judiciary.