6 yrs on, HC accepts apology tendered by IAS officer

More than six years after IAS officer Shivdular Singh Dhillon and Bathinda Food Controller Jaspreet Singh Kahlon were sentenced “till the rising of the court” following conviction in a contempt case involving the much-hyped Atta-Dal Scheme, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has accepted unconditional apology before setting aside the orders.

The Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma at the same time asserted the delay in executing the court’s directives explained in an earlier affidavit was characteristic of the state government’s usual trend of shifting files between the departments, compelling litigants to file contempt petitions.

The Bench asserted the state unnecessarily sought legal opinions causing further delays, despite clear and unambiguous court orders not requiring review or appeal.

“In the present case also the affidavit explaining delay shows the movement of file from one person to the other, which further shows that the file is unnecessarily moved for legal opinion of the compliance. This action amounts to contempt in the present case,” the court observed.

The Bench added an unconditional apology was tendered by the appellants on February 9, 2017, and again vide affidavit dated April 20, 2017. “Therefore, we find merit in the present appeal and set aside the orders dated February 1, 2017, and February 12, 2018, passed by the Single Judge while accepting the apology tendered by the appellants,” the court added.