High Court contempt notice to Baghpat DM, SP

Legal Correspondent
Shimla, August 2

The HP High Court has issued contempt notices to the District Magistrate and the SP of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh for wilful disobedience of its orders and directed them to appear before it on August 25.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by a convict alleging therein that despite the court direction on June 29, 2020, to release him on parole for 21 days, the officers are not recommending his case for release.

It was contended in the petition that since the petitioner is a resident of Baraut tehsil of Baghpat district (UP), the report of the District Magistrate and the SP concerned is required for the jail authorities of Himachal to release him on parole. A division Bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya observed, “This is clearly evident from the instructions placed on record that the state authorities had taken up the matter with the District Magistrate and the SP of Baghpat, who despite the court orders still maintained that the petitioner could not be released on parole”.

The Bench stated, “We, prima facie, are of the considered view that both District Magistrate and the SP of Baghpat are guilty of having deliberately and willfully violated the directions of this court by not releasing the petitioner on parole”.