Sunil Chawla Vs Sh N Saravana Kumar and Anr. — Contempt of Court | Delhi HC (2026)

Sunil Chawla Vs Sh N Saravana Kumar and Anr. — Contempt of Court | Delhi HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Statement of respondent's counsel, on instructions, that necessary compliance of the order dated 17.02.2026 (including consideration of the petitioner's case by the Review Committee and Representation Committee) shall be completed within eight weeks, taken on record; petition disposed of without further orders.

Issue for consideration

Whether there has been wilful disobedience of the directions in the Division Bench order dated 17.02.2026 in W.P.(C) 422/2026, in that the petitioner's case has not been considered by the Review Committee and the Representation Committee.

Court's answer

The respondent's undertaking, made on instructions, that necessary compliance of the directions in the order dated 17.02.2026 — including consideration of the petitioner's case — would be completed within eight weeks, was accepted and taken on record.

Ratio / Principle

In view of the undertaking recorded, no further orders were required to be passed in the contempt petition, which was accordingly disposed of.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Contempt petition (CONT.CAS(C) 548/2026, High Court of Delhi, Sachin Datta, J, decided 02.04.2026) by Sunil Chawla against Sh N Saravana Kumar and Anr (DDA), alleging wilful disobedience of the Division Bench order dated 17.02.2026 in W.P.(C) 422/2026. That order had modified the Central Administrative Tribunal's order dated 05.08.2025 in O.A. No. 1333/2020 — which had set aside the respondent's compulsory retirement vide order dated 29.08.2019 (after 30 years of service), observing that constitution of the Review Committee and Representation Committee was not appropriate — and had requested the committees to consider the petitioner's case within one month. The petitioner's case had not been considered by the committees till date. Respondent's counsel undertook, on instructions, that necessary compliance including consideration of the petitioner's case would be completed within eight weeks; the statement was taken on record and the petition disposed of without further orders. CM APPL.21046/2026 (Exemption) was allowed subject to all just exceptions and disposed of.

$~119

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

- CONT.CAS(C) 548/2026

SUNIL CHAWLA .....Petitioner

Through: Mr. Shankar Raju and Mr. Nilash Gaur, Advs.

versus

SH N SARAVANA KUMAR AND ANR .....Respondents Through: Ms. Shobhana Takiar, SC and Ms. Namrata Mukim, Adv., DDA.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA

CM APPL.21046/2026 (Exemption)

Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

Application stands disposed of.

CONT.CAS(C) 548/2026

The present petition alleges wilful disobedience of the directions contained in the order dated 17.02.2026 passed by the Division Bench of this Court in W.P.(C) 422/2026. The said order dated 17.02.2026 reads as under:

“ 1. Through the present Writ Petition, the Petitioner challenges correctness of the order dated 05.08.2025 (hereafter ‘the impugned order’), passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A. No. 1333/2020.

2. The Respondent was ordered to be compulsorily retired vide order dated 29.08.2019 as he had completed 30 years of service. By way of the impugned order, the learned Tribunal set aside the said order after observing that constitution of Review Committee and Representation Committee was not appropriate.

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 09/04/2026 at 12:19:11

3. After arguing at length, learned counsel representing the parties have come to a consensus. They jointly (on instructions) state that the impugned order be suitably modified and the matter be remanded for re-examination by the Review Committee as well as Representation Committee in accordance with law.

4. Keeping in view the aforesaid consensus, the impugned order is modified to the said extent.

5. The Review Committee and Representation Committee are requested to consider the Petitioner’s case within a period of one month. Further, the constitution of the aforesaid committees shall be made keeping in view the observations made by the learned Tribunal.

6. The present Writ Petition is disposed of with the aforesaid observations. Pending applications also stand disposed of. ”

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the requisite compliance has not been done inasmuch as the petitioner’s case has not been considered by the review committee and the representation committee, till date.

Learned counsel for the respondent, who appears on advance notice submits, on instructions that the constitution of the review committee and representation committee would require the approval of the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor. It is submitted that appropriate steps are being taken for this purpose.

It is assured and undertaken that necessary compliance of the directions contained in the aforesaid order dated 17.02.2026 including consideration of the petitioner’s case in terms thereof, shall be completed latest within a period of eight weeks from today.

The said statement is taken on record.

In the circumstances, no further orders are required to be passed in the present petition.

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 09/04/2026 at 12:19:11

The same is accordingly, disposed of.

SACHIN DATTA, J

APRIL 2, 2026/ cl

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 09/04/2026 at 12:19:11