Allahabad High Court
Smt. Alka Singh Wife Of Shri R.K. Singh vs Miss Madhu Tandon, Principal Air Force ... on 9 February, 2005
JUDGMENT S.P. Mehrotra, J.
1. Case called out. Learned counsel for the petitioner /applicant is not present. Shri S.K. Rai, learned Additional Standing Counsel, Central Government, appearing for the opposite parties is present.
2. The present Contempt Petition has been filed under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. It is, interalia, prayed that the opposite parties be punished for allegedly having committed contempt of this Court by disobeying the order dated 15.3.2000 passed by this Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000.
3. It is, interalia, stated in the affidavit accompanying the Contempt Petition that against the order of termination of services of the petitioner/applicant dated 14.2.2000, the petitioner/applicant filed the aforementioned Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000; and that this Court passed an interim order dated 15.3.2000 in the said writ petition.
4. Copy of the said interim order dated 15.3.2000 passed in the aforementioned writ petition has been filed as Annexure-1 to the affidavit accompanying the Contempt Petition. The relevant portion of the said order dated 15.3.2000 is quoted below:
"Till further orders, the operation of the impugned order dated 14.2.2000 (filed as annexure No.3 to the writ petition) shall remain stayed."
5. It is, interalia, further stated in the affidavit accompanying the Contempt Petition that the said interim order dated 15.3.2000 was served in the office of the opposite party No. 1 on 29.3.2000, but the petitioner/applicant was not permitted to join the duties and to take classes.
6. By the order dated 1.5.2000 passed on the Contempt Petition, notice was directed to be issued to the opposite parties to show cause.
7. The said order dated 1.5.2000 is reproduced below:
"Pratipakshigar ko notice jari ho ki dinank 5-7-2000 tak is nyayalay ke nirnay dinank 15.3.2000 jo yachika sankhya 12098 wars 2000 men parit kiya gaya hai, ka anupalan kar suchit Karen, anyatha dinank 12-7-2000 ko swayam ya apne vidvan adhiwakta ke madhyam se upasthit hokar hetu sandarbhit Karen.
Dinank 12-7-2000 ko adesh hetu suchibadh ho."
8. In response to the notices issued pursuant to the said order dated 1.5.2000, Short Affidavit, sworn on 11.7.2000 by S.P. Singh (opposite party No. 3), was filed alongwith Civil Misc. Application No. 51265 of 2000 on behalf of the opposite parties.
9. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the said Short Affidavit, which are relevant in the present context, are quoted below:
3. That, the deponent wants to bring notice to the Hon'ble Court that in pursuance of the interim order dt. 15-3-2000 the petitioner joined duty on 11-5-2000 and order of Hon'ble Curt has been complied with.
4. That, there was no latches or any violation on the part of any of the opposite parties in compliance of the order of Hon'ble Court on the contrary after moving an application alongwith the interim order, the petitioner did not join. The petitioner was not coming to School regularly, and he was coming at his own time and was not signing the attendance register also. The School waited for petitioner next day also i.e. on 31.3.2000 and thereafter a joining letter was dispatched to him same day by Registered post, which he refused to accept and the letter came back to School with the remarks of the postman. It also appeared that the envelope containing the said letter dated 31.3.2000 was tampered."
10. Subsequently, it appears that the aforementioned Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000 was dismissed by this Court by its order dated 23.2.2004. In the circumstances, an Application being Civil Misc. Application No. 82384 of 2004 was filed on behalf of the opposite parties, interalia, praying for dismissing the Contempt Petition. Alongwith the said application, an affidavit sworn by Air Commander R.S. Sandhu, VSM on 8.4.2004 was filed.
11. It is, interalia, stated in paragraph No. 7 of the said affidavit of Air Commander R.S. Sandhu that the aforementioned Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000 was dismissed by this Court on 23.2 2004.
12. Copy of the said order dated 23.2.2004 has been filed as Annexure-1 to the said affidavit of Air Commander R.S. Sandhu.
13. Relevant portion of the said order dated 23.2.2004 is quoted below:
"........................................In view of the discussions hereinabove, the petition lacks merits and even otherwise it is not a fit case for interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The petition is accordingly dismissed but no order as to cost."
14. From the narration of the facts given above, it is evident that the interim order dated 15.3.2000 was complied with by the opposite parties, and the petitioner/applicant was permitted to join on 11.5.2000. Nothing has been brought on record on behalf of the petitioner/applicant to show that the averments made in this regard in the aforementioned Short Affidavit, sworn on 11.7.2000, are incorrect.
15. Moreover, the present Contempt Petition has been filed on the ground of the alleged violation of the said interim order dated 15.3.2000 passed in the aforementioned Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000. As noted above, the said writ petition itself has been dismissed by this Court on 23.2.2004.
16. In the circumstances, it is evident that the present Contempt Petition filed on the basis of the alleged violation of the interim order passed in the aforementioned Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 12099 of 2000, has become infructuous, and the same is liable to be dismissed as such.
17. The Contempt Petition is accordingly dismissed as having become infructuous. Show Cause Notices issued to the opposite parties are discharged.