Vizag district collector sentenced to one month imprisonment for contempt of court
- The court found the district collector guilty of wilful disobedience of its directive.
- The HC bench also asked Kumar to pay a fine of Rs 1500.
FollowThe HC bench headed by Justice MS Ramachandra Rao passed the sentence during a contempt case filed by one Jupiter Automobiles company.
The company in 2009 had sought permission from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation to construct a building in a plot located in Waltair war. The GVMC, which then was headed by Praveen Kumar, rejected the application.
The company then approached the High court challenging the GVMC. The court then had directed GVMC to consider the application. However, the municipal body again rejected the proposal in 2013. The court again directed GVMC to consider the application, but it was again rejected.
The company then in 2016 filed a contempt case against the Praveen Kumar. The court during the hearing found that the GVMC intentionally disobeyed the court order.
The HC bench also observed that there was "no honesty in the apology" offered by the commissioner, the New Indian Express reported on Sunday.
The court observed that Kumar was directly responsible for the court order not being obeyed by GVMC and sentenced him to one-month imprisonment and asked to pay a fine of Rs 1500 in four weeks.
The judge, however, has given Kumar four weeks to file an appeal on the order.
