Munja so RamraoChavan v. Associate Dean of Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Science University
Contempt – willful disobedience
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench), Contempt Petition No. 995 of 2024 in WP/2259/2024 - Munja so Ramraochavan v. Associate Dean of Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Science University - decided 08.05.2025 by Nitin B. Suryawanshi and Manjusha Deshpande, JJ. (per court). Alleged willful disobedience of this Court's order dated 28.02.2025 (continuation with salary; no filling of Ambulance Driver/Tractor Driver posts without permission) by non-payment of salary for February-July 2024. Court found no contempt on the strength of the affidavit-in-reply recording contractual engagement through an outside agency and complete cessation of services on 20.06.2024 and 29.01.2024; the regularisation claim was expressly left open, the pending substantive writ petition remaining unaffected.
What did the court decide?
No contempt is committed by the respondents: taking into consideration the statements in the affidavit-in-reply that the petitioners' services were contractual through an outside agency and stood stopped completely from 20.06.2024 and 29.01.2024 respectively, the non-payment of salary for February 2024 to July 2024 does not amount to willful disobedience of the order dated 28.02.2025.