Delhi High Court Finds Chief Secretary, Transport Commissioner, and Labour Secretary Guilty of Contempt for Failing to Implement Orders
The Delhi High Court has found the Chief Secretary of Delhi, its Special Commissioner for Transport, and the Labour Secretary guilty of contempt of court for willfully disobeying orders issued by a division bench in December 2017. The bench had directed the government to make necessary amendments to the agreements with private players operating public transport buses in the national capital and to increase the wages of the staff. Justice Rekha Palli noted that the orders of the division bench had not been implemented in their true sense, despite the dismissal of the government's review petition and Special Leave Petition by the Supreme Court. The court stated that the officials had failed to effectuate the necessary amendments to the formula by working out the amount payable to each cluster individually, as directed by the division bench. The court emphasized that the law of contempt is meant to serve public interest and build confidence in the judicial process and that it is necessary to deal with the officials with a heavy hand for deliberately attempting to circumvent and undermine the unambiguous directions issued by the division bench. The court has listed the matter for sentence on July 14 and ordered the officials to appear before the court.
The Delhi High Court has found Delhi Chief Secretary, its Special Commissioner for Transport, and the Labour Secretary guilty of contempt of court for willfully disobeying orders to increase wages for staff working on public transport buses. The court noted that the officials had failed to implement the necessary amendments to the agreements with private players, despite crystal-clear directions issued by a division bench in December 2017. The court emphasized that the purpose of the law of contempt is to serve public interest and build confidence in the judicial process. The officials, despite repeatedly failing in their challenge to the division bench's order, were deliberately attempting to circumvent and undermine the unambiguous directions. The court listed the matter for sentence on July 14 and ordered the officials to appear before the court on that date. The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate Sushil Dutt Salwan and advocate Aditya Garg, while the respondents were represented by advocates Avishkar Singhvi, Naved Ahmed, and Vivek Kumar.
TAGS: Delhi High Court officials contempt of court disobeying orders wages public transport buses division bench amendments crystal-clear directions sentence petitioners respondents
