Builder sentenced to 2 months jail for contempt of court

The High Court at Hyderabad has sentenced a builder to two months of simple imprisonment and imposed Rs 2,000 fine for wilfully disobeying the orders of the court by illegally constructing an additional floor and carrying out other constructions despite a specific stay order.

Justice C Praveen Kumar delivered a judgment to this effect on April 11 while dealing with a contempt petition moved by Manikonda Grama Panchayat Secretary against the builder. The builder had approached the High Court in 2013 alleging that Manikonda Grama Panchayat authorities were trying to demolish his building which was under construction on false grounds. The court issued notices to respondents and in an interim order had directed the builder to stop construction of the additional floor and not to utilise such floor.

The Panchayat Secretary moved a contempt petition saying the builder had violated the order of the court. The court appointed an Adovcate Commissioner to visit the site and report on the status. The Commissioner, in his report, submitted to the court that the builder had violated the order and gone ahead and constructed the additional floor.

Taking a serious note of this wilful disobedience of court orders, the judge sentenced the builder to two months simple imprisonment and imposed fine. He noted that if people in society failed to give due importance to court orders, then there would be anarchy. Such wilful disobedience of court orders would lower the prestige of judiciary and people’s faith in the institution of judiciary would be diluted.