G. Sivaswami vs Raveendran

T.R. Ramachandran Nair, J.—In this Contempt of Court Case, the petitioner alleges that in disobedience of the interim order Annexure A which was extended by Annexures B and C, the respondent had proceeded with certain constructions.

The respondent has filed a counter affidavit and the petitioner has filed a reply affidavit. The whole dispute is regarding an extent of 1.09 Acres of land in Survey No. 1482 of Wadakancherry Village, which according to the petitioner was being used as a cremation ground for the members of the petitioner-Sabha. Alleging that the Panchayat concerned, of which the respondent is the Secretary, has started construction of an Anganwadi there, the Writ Petition has been filed. By Annexure A order, this Court passed an interim order as prayed for, for a period of three weeks. The prayer in the interlocutory application was to pass an order of injunction restraining respondents 2 and 3 from making/proceeding with any construction whatsoever in the 1.09 Acres of land blocked in Sy. No. 148 of Wadakancherry Village. Alleging that in spite of the interim order which was passed after notice was served in the Writ Petition, the construction proceeded, this Contempt of Court Case is filed.

It is averred in paragraph No. 7 that when I.A. No. 5633/2010 was filed and moved, the foundation work for the building alone had been commenced. Thereafter, some more constructions have been effected and Annexure D is the photograph of the structure.

The respondent, who is the Secretary of the Panchayat has filed a counter affidavit. It is averred in paragraph No. 3 that construction of the Anganwadi was entrusted with the Nirmithi Kendra, Thrissur as per agreement dated 28.2.2009. The District Collector, Thrissur is the Chairman and the Revenue Divisional Officer, Thrissur is the Secretary of the said Nirmithi Kendra. The structure stage was completed on 15.4.2010. What was left was only the finishing works such as plastering, flooring, white washing, etc. The materials for such finishing work were stored in the building. Exhibit R1(1) issued by the Executive Secretary and Project Manager of the Nirmithi Kendra was produced in support of the above plea. The allegation that at the time of filing of the Writ Petition, the foundation work alone have been commenced and respondents 2 and 3 after receiving notice attempted to construct an Anganwadi has been disputed. It is also explained in paragraph No. 4 that even though vakalath was filed on 18.5.2010, ie; the date on which interim order was passed, the Advocate appearing for the respondent was not aware of the posting. Finally, it is pointed out that the Nirmithi Kendra was not aware of the interim order and had started the finishing of the work, and after coming to know of the interim order, the work was stopped.

In the reply affidavit the petitioner has produced Annexure-F letter indicating the action taken by the police on the complaint filed by him.

Evidently, the Panchayat was not doing the construction works directly and the Nirmithi Kendra was entrusted with the construction as per an agreement executed by them. At the stage of filing of the Writ Petition, evidently, the construction had started, even going by the averments in the Writ Petition. Therefore, actually, it is not a case where the construction had started after the interim order was passed. True that some constructions have been made and according to the respondent, Nirmithi Kendra was making it. It cannot, therefore, be said that there is wilful disobedience in the strict terms to attract an action under the Contempt of Courts Act. The Writ Petition is still pending. It is upto the petitioner to seek appropriate orders in the Writ Petition itself in the matter. The Nirmithi Kendra, admittedly, is not a party in the Writ Petition or in the interlocutory application. Moreover, the construction itself is for an Anganwadi, that too by spending public money. Even though the learned Counsel for the petitioner prayed that a direction may be issued to demolish the construction, ultimately if the Writ Petition is dismissed, then it will cause great prejudice to the Panchayat, especially since public money has been spent on a project like the Anganwadi. Therefore, I refrain from issuing any such direction at this stage.

In that view of the matter, leaving open the remedy of the petitioner to seek appropriate reliefs in the Writ Petition, this Contempt of Court Case is closed.