LUCKNOW: Taking a strong stance against the non-compliance of court orders, the Allahabad High Court observed that the foundation of constitutional governance is weakened when litigants are permitted to treat judicial directions as optional.
While hearing a contempt plea filed by Ghazipur resident Radhey Shyam Yadav, a single-judge bench of Justice Kshitij Shailendra observed that the dignity and authority of Constitutional Courts are linked to public confidence in the justice delivery system.
“When judicial orders are openly violated without consequence, the common citizen begins to lose faith in the efficacy of law itself,” Justice Shailendra said in an order passed on May 19.
Emphasising the significance of compliance with judicial orders, the Court observed, “The majesty of law does not survive merely by passing of judicial orders. It survives because such orders command obedience. An order of a Constitutional Court is neither a mere advisory opinion nor a decorative piece of paper to be admired and ignored at convenience. It carries with it the full authority of the Constitution and the solemn mandate of the rule of law.”
The petitioner alleged that despite an interim order passed in April 2022 directing payment of his salary during the pendency of his writ petition, the then Deputy Inspector of Schools (DIOS) failed to comply with the Court’s directions.
The present DIOS sought to justify the non-compliance by stating that a stay-vacation application challenging the interim order was pending. The Court, however, rejected this contention.
Yadav had filed a writ petition in 2017 seeking payment of his salary. On April 18, 2022, the writ court directed the then DIOS to ensure payment. A special appeal challenging the order was subsequently dismissed as withdrawn.
During the contempt proceedings, the present DIOS filed an affidavit stating that a stay-vacation application had been filed on behalf of the State on May 12, 2022, and that a listing application had been moved on May 13, 2026. On that basis, a request was made to defer further proceedings in the contempt case until the stay-vacation application was decided.
Justice Shailendra, however, noted that four years had elapsed since the interim order was passed and that the contempt application had also remained pending for the same period.
The Court observed that the facts of the case and the nature of the interim order were significant, as the direction specifically required payment of the petitioner’s current salary during the pendency of the writ petition.
The bench stated, “There is nothing on record to indicate that the State ever pressed its stay vacation application since 2022… It is only on May 13, 2026, immediately after this court directed personal appearance of the DIOS in a case of non-compliance within a month from April 9, that a listing application was filed in the writ petition on behalf of the State.”
The Court further noted that the stay-vacation application had remained pending for four years without any effort by the State to have it listed or argued.
Rejecting the State’s stand, the bench observed, “If mere filing of an application were treated as a licence to violate court orders, every contemnor would conveniently avoid compliance by instituting repetitive applications and then taking shelter behind the pendency thereof.”
The Court also highlighted the heavy burden on the Allahabad High Court, observing that, “Around 400, 500, 600 and sometimes more than 800 cases are listed every day before every judge and sometimes it takes… decades in disposing of the matters.”
It added, “People all around may expect such overburdened judges to become ever-working super robots or super computers or super-human beings. If during such pendency, parties are permitted to openly defy operative directions, the administration of justice would descend into chaos and anarchy. The law does not countenance such audacity.”
The bench observed that contempt jurisdiction exists precisely to prevent such a collapse of judicial authority.
In its order, the Court held that the “opposite party is guilty of committing contempt of the order dated April 18, 2022 so as to warrant further proceedings in this matter”.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 8 for framing of charges against the DIOS. The Court directed him to remain personally present.
