Hyderabad: Telangana high court has sentenced the municipal commissioner of Kosgi in Narayanpet district to one month in jail for wilfully disobeying an order restraining demolition of a private structure.Justice Laxmi Narayana Alishetty, in an order passed on Sept 15, sentenced municipal commissioner C Shashidar to one month’s simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹1,000 in a contempt case filed by R Muralidhar.Muralidhar alleged that municipal authorities demolished a tin shed constructed on his 198.61 square yard property in Kosgi despite a 2019 high court order protecting the structure.According to the petitioner, he purchased the land in 2018 through a registered sale deed and, after obtaining the required permission from the gram panchayat, constructed a tin shed that housed an ice cream parlour, an online service centre and a storeroom.When municipal authorities sought to demolish the structure in 2019, Muralidhar approached the high court and secured interim protection restraining officials from taking any such action.However, he alleged that despite being aware of the court’s directions, authorities went ahead with the demolition in Feb 2024.“Even when we produced the interim order, authorities ignored the same and continued with the demolition, stating that they are above the law,” alleged Muralidhar.The commissioner argued that he was unaware of the 2019 order. The court, however, rejected the contention, noting that he was a party to the original writ petition and had been served copies of the interim order.The court also declined to accept his unconditional apology, observing that an apology could not be used to escape the consequences of deliberate disobedience of judicial orders, particularly when the demolition continued even after officials were shown a copy of the court order at the site.The high court, however, suspended the sentence for four weeks to enable the commissioner to prefer an appeal.Box/second storyCRPF cop fined for misusing contempt proceedingsHyderabad: Telangana high court has imposed a ₹25,000 fine on CRPF constable B Ramchander for filing a contempt petition against his superior officers over his transfer to Chhattisgarh.Justice Laxmi Narayana Alishetty found that Ramchander’s original writ petition challenging the transfer had been dismissed and not allowed, contrary to his claim. The court further held that no judicial direction had been violated by the officials.Describing the contempt petition as an abuse of process and a “misadventure,” the judge observed that frivolous contempt cases waste valuable judicial time and warranted a deterrent penalty. The amount has been directed to be paid to a Sainik Welfare Fund.
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