Kerala High Court Expresses Displeasure At Mounting Contempt Cases, Asks Chief Secretary To Ensure Orders Are Obeyed By Officers In Letter & Spirit

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed its anguish over the mounting contempt cases before it for violation of its orders by officers of the State.

The court said that such a practice needs to be stopped and that if officials are not able to comply with the order of the court within the time frame fixed by it, they have to file an appropriate application before the court with proper reasons for non-compliance.  

A single bench Justice P.V.Kunhikrishnan while considering a contempt case filed against the Chief Secretary of the State, said:

“These types of contempt cases are coming regularly before this court. The respondent is the ‘Chief Secretary’ of this state. If a direction is issued by this Court to do certain things within a time limit, it is the duty of the officer concerned to pass appropriate orders within that time frame. If there is any difficulty in complying the directions, the officer concerned can approach this court with appropriate application. Applications filed with cogent reasons are usually allowed. Without doing that, the officers are violating the orders passed by this Court. This should be stopped. The respondent should take necessary steps to see that the orders of this Court are obeyed by the officers of the state in letter and spirit.”

The contempt case had been filed against the Chief Secretary for not complying with an order passed in July 2021. The petitioners had approached the court aggrieved by the proposal of the Irrigation Department to surrender the surplus land, after the implementation of Periyar Valley Irrigation Project, to landless people.

The petitioners were residents of the Nellikuzhi Grama Panchayat where the canal had been constructed and many petitioners had to give up their land to the Water Resources Department for this project. The petitioners contended that the land could not be given away to others as it was acquired for a specific purpose and that it was required for the protection of the canal. The court had directed the Chief Secretary to hear the petitioners on this issue and pass orders on it in no less than six months. However, the Chief Secretary failed to do so and now a contempt case has been filed.

"After going through the Contempt petition, I am of the prima facie opinion that the respondent committed contempt," said the court, while asking the Chief Secretary to remain present before it on April 03.

However, the court also clarified that in the meanwhile, if the directions in the judgment are complied or if the judgment is varied or modified, "the appearance is dispensed with." 

Case Title: K S Damodaran Elayath Vs. V P Joy

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 137

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