Justice P Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Thursday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on senior government officials after finding them to be in contempt of court, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
Higher Education Department Secretary V Karuna; Commissioner of Collegiate Education Naveen Mittal; Regional Joint Director of Collegiate Education Dr G Yadagiri; and R Swarnalatha, Principal, Government Model Degree College, Kalwakurthy in Nagarkurnool district were directed to pay the fine within four weeks or be subjected to simple imprisonment of one month each in case of non-payment.
The contempt case was filed by K Srinivasa Rao, a junior assistant at Government Model Degree College Kalwakurthy, under Sections 10 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 after he was not reinstated into service despite a court order.
Counsel for the petitioner argued that the respondents, particularly the Commissioner of Collegiate Education, had intentionally and knowingly violated the court order, instead issuing an order of removal from service. It was only after the contempt case was filed that the respondents reinstated the petitioner and paid a salary for the intervening period, counsel said. The petitioner contended that the respondents had acted with a predetermined intention to punish him.
