Court to official: Comply with order or pay Rs 50,000 to lineman

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 25

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked a Superintending Engineer to either comply with its order or personally pay Rs50,000 as costs in a service matter.

The judgment is distinctive as costs are normally imposed after the court takes cognisance of non-compliance of its orders following the expiry of the prescribed period.

The order by Justice Jaswant Singh of the High Court came on a contempt-of-court petition filed by Manphool Singh against Mukesh Gupta.

“In case speaking order is not passed, the Superintending Engineer concerned shall be personally liable to pay costs of Rs50,000 to the petitioner by way of demand draft for non-compliance of the present directions,” Justice Jaswant Singh asserted.

The Bench was told that the petitioner, while working as assistant lineman through an outsource agency, sustained injuries on account of an accident on March 1, 2013. The accident took place allegedly due to negligence of the officials of the Electricity Department.

The Bench was told that the High Court, in its order dated January 9 last year, directed the competent authority to pass a speaking order on the claims in the legal notice dated August 3, 2016.

Justice Jaswant Singh added that the panel advocate for the DHBVN was directed to verify facts to elicit factual position. He pointed out that the petitioner was an outsourced employee and all admissible dues under the Employees State Insurance Corporation Act had since been released.

On the issue of his claim for reinstatement, the counsel claimed that the petitioner had compromised with the outsourcing agency in a reference before the Labour Court. He further submitted that the accident had occurred in March 2013.

He claimed that as such, the petitioner was not entitled to the benefit of compensation under a policy framed in 2017. He conceded that a speaking order had not yet been passed in the compliance of the order dated January 9 last year.

“Counsel for the parties have agreed that the present contempt be disposed of with the direction to the Superintending Engineer to pass a speaking order on or before April 30. It is disposed of in the above terms,” Justice Jaswant Singh asserted before directing future imposition of costs in case of non-compliance.