Disposed

Prashant Prakash v. Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Ors.

Delhi HC15 Jul 2024CONT.CAS(C)/660/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

A contempt petition alleging violation of a status quo order after a Sub-Inspector was demoted to Constable was disposed of; the Court held the violation was not deliberate and clarified the petitioner may continue working as SI (GD) pending further orders in the connected writ petition.

What did the court decide?

Prashant Prakash Vs Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Ors. — Contempt of Court | Delhi HC (2024)

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$~9

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- CONT.CAS(C) 660/2024 PRASHANT PRAKASH .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Ankur Chhibber, Adv.

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versus

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SHRI AJAY KUMAR BHALLA AND ORS .....Respondents Through: Mr. Anshuman, SPC with Mr. Vedansh Anand, Adv.

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CORAM:

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HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE SHALINDER KAUR

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O R D E R

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% 15.07.2024

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This is a petition under Section 11 & 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the respondents for violating this Court‘s order dated 13.02.2024.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that even though this Court had on 13.02.2024 directed the respondents to maintain status quo , the petitioner, who was holding the post of Sub-Inspector (GD) on the said date has been demoted to the rank of Constable (GD) in blatant breach of this Court‘s order. He submits that the fact that the petitioner was sought to be demoted after 13.02.2024 is evident from a perusal of the leave certificate dated 12.01.2024.

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Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents submits that the petitioner was rightly demoted as the order demoting him to the post of Constable (GD) had been already passed by the headquarters on 12.01.2024 and therefore, there was no deliberate violation of this Court‘s order.

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This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 18/07/2024 at 11:43:23

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Having considered the submissions for the learned counsels for the parties and perused the record, we find that even though the respondents‘ claim to have passed the demotion order on 12.01.2024, the same was admittedly not served on the petitioner till 13.02.2024, on which date this Court directed the respondents to maintain status quo. In these circumstances, even though the respondents have acted in violation of this Court‘s order, it cannot be said that their action was deliberate. It appears that the respondents were under a bonafide belief that since demotion order has been passed by the headquarters on 12.01.2024 itself, the petitioner could be demoted despite the status quo order passed by this Court on 13.02.2024.

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In the light of the aforesaid and taking into account, the order being passed in WP(C) 2087/2024 today, we are of the view that the respondents cannot be held guilty of having committed contempt. We accordingly, dispose of the contempt petition by clarifying that the petitioner will be permitted to work on the post of SI (GD) till further orders in WP(C) 2087/2024 by this Court.

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REKHA PALLI, J

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SHALINDER KAUR, J

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JULY 15, 2024 /ss

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Prashant Prakash v. Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Ors.

Case brief

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Prashant Prakash v. Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Ors.

Case brief

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