Date:01/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/03/01/stories/2005030109930400.htm

New Delhi

Contempt of court proceedings against MCD official

Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The Delhi High Court today directed the Registry to initiate contempt of court proceedings against a senior official of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for filing false affidavits.

Taking serious note of the false deposition by the official in a case pending in the Court, Justice Vikramjit Sen directed the Registry to initiate the proceedings within one month from the date of the order under Section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.).

Mr. Justice Sen took a suo motu note of the lapse and deprecated the practice of filing false affidavits in the proceedings. He also issued a show cause notice to the official asking him to file a reply within four weeks. The matter would now come for hearing on April 6, Mr. Justice Sen stated.

The Court issued the directions on a petition filed by three casual bulldozer operators working for the local body through their counsel, Surat Singh, and Jugdev Singh.

Arguing the case, Mr. Singh submitted that when the petition of their clients seeking regularisation of their services came up for hearing, the local body made a submission that there was no regular post of bulldozer operators in the Corporation, thus, their services could no be regularised.

In view of the submission, the Court disposed of the petition with a direction to the local body to create posts of bulldozer operators and regularise the petitioners on them.

However, the petitioner after some time were able to show to the Court that the local body had misled it as four permanent posts of bulldozer operators were existing in the Corporation when the respondent filed the reply denying existence of a permanent post of bulldozer operators, Mr. Singh said.