The Jharkhand High Court has held four senior officials of the State Water Resources Department guilty of contempt for wilful and deliberate disobedience of its orders in Contempt Case (Civil) No. 164 of 2021. The Court noted that despite the writ court’s direction to release salary dues to petitioner Lakhan Prasad Yadav, which stood affirmed by both the Division Bench and the Supreme Court, the officials sought to mislead the Court by underreporting arrears.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi observed that the contemners’ conduct reflected a deliberate attempt to frustrate compliance, amounting to contempt of court. While considering their apology, the Court took a lenient view in light of their long service records but nonetheless imposed a cost of ₹25,000 each, to be deposited with the Registrar General, Jharkhand High Court, for transfer to the State Legal Services Authority.
The Court directed compliance within a week and listed the matter for further orders on 12 September 2025, cautioning that failure to deposit costs would necessitate their personal presence.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner :Mr. Manoj Tandon, Advocate; Mr. Rakesh Kumar Roy, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Prabhat Kumar, S.C.-II
