CHENNAI: The first bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, on Friday, refrained from awarding a prison term to a tahsildar of Tiruvannamalai district, convicted of contempt of court. Instead, it chose to make her sit in the court hall for the day.
The tahsildar was convicted by the bench on Wednesday for failing to honour an earlier order of the court to remove encroachments from a public pathway in Kalasapakkam taluk in Tiruvannamalai district. The judges had said then that they would pronounce the quantum of punishment (jail term) on Friday and directed the officer to be present.
However, accepting her apology and promise to remove encroachments within three weeks and the plea of Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, the judges did not sentence her to imprisonment but ordered her to remain in the court hall till the end of the day.
The tahsildar was holding the position at Kalasapakkam taluk when a resident, Murugan, moved the court seeking orders to remove encroachments made on a public pathway. The court, in 2017, ordered authorities concerned to remove the encroachments within 12 weeks. The order, however, was not carried out, leading to the contempt of court petition.
When the matter came up before the first bench in June this year, the judges granted four weeks for action to clear the encroachments. The matter came up for hearing on Wednesday and the judges found nothing was done and initiated proceedings to punish the erring officer.