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The Supreme Court has held two tenants in Saharanpur guilty of contempt for refusing to follow its eviction order. One has been sentenced to three months in civil prison along with a fine of INR 100,000, while the other has been fined INR 50,000. If the fines are not paid within two months, both face additional jail time. The case had its origin in an eviction order issued by the Rent Control Authority, later upheld by the Allahabad High Court. The top court said the tenants deliberately disobeyed orders and misled the proceedings.
The Supreme Court has convicted two tenants in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, of contempt of court for failing to comply with its order to vacate their rented property. The bench, comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, observed that the tenants had shown deliberate disobedience of judicial directions and placed contradictory and misleading statements on record. Advertisement
One of the contemnors has been sentenced to three months' civil imprisonment at Tihar Jail and fined INR 100,000. The fine must be deposited with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within two months. In case of non-payment, the contemnor will have to undergo an additional one-month term of civil imprisonment.
The second contemnor has been directed to pay INR 50,000 within the same time frame. If the fine is not paid, he will be subjected to one month of civil imprisonment. The court has made it clear that in case of default, both contemnors will be taken into custody by court security and handed over to jail authorities to serve their sentences.
The contempt proceedings are linked to an eviction order passed earlier by the Rent Control Authority, which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court. Despite these directions, the tenants continued to occupy the premises and attempted to delay the matter further through inconsistent statements before the courts.
While delivering the order, the Supreme Court pointed out that the actions of the contemnors reflected a willful attempt to disregard the authority of the judiciary. The bench said that leniency was not possible given the repeated violations and the deliberate misleading of the court.
Instances of contempt in tenancy matters have surfaced in the past as well, where courts have stressed that ignoring eviction orders directly affects the sanctity of property rights and delays justice for landlords. In this case, the court reinforced that eviction orders cannot be disregarded under any circumstance and that strict consequences follow such conduct.
Both contemnors now face a choice between paying the fines within the stipulated period or undergoing civil imprisonment as directed by the court.
Source PTI
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