Damodar Shah v. Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, IAS and Anr.
Case brief
What is this about?
Contempt case closed as complaint held not maintainable — no wilful or deliberate disobedience where payment direction followed Notification dated 15.11.2014 and pre-notification-date accident was governed by earlier Office Memorandum/Notifications. Keywords: contempt; maintainability; wilful disobedience; deliberate disobedience; ex-gratia; Rs.2,00,000/- prescribed; Rs.1,00,000/- paid; Notification dated 15.11.2014; order dated 22.02.2022; Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam; Commissioner and Secretary Revenue (Relief and Rehabilitation) and Disaster Management; Deputy Commissioner Kamrup (M); Damodar Shah v. Gyanendra Dev Tripathi; Gauhati High Court; Sanjay Kumar Medhi; Cont.Cas(C)/559/2022.
What did the court decide?
As the direction for payment was admittedly in terms of Notification dated 15.11.2014, under which accidents occurring prior to that date fall to be governed by the earlier Office Memorandum/Notifications, and the petitioner's counsel conceded having no issue on that aspect, the Court held the present complaint not maintainable and closed the contempt case.