Srinagar, Aug 2: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has summoned Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal Shyambir, to appear in person on August 5 in a criminal contempt case initiated by a Chief Judicial Magistrate.
In an order, a Division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Sanjeev Kumar, on Friday said that any attempt by DC Shyambir to avoid service of summons or his nonappearance shall be viewed seriously and the Court shall resort to coercive proceedings to secure his presence.
Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ganderbal had recently initiated a preliminary inquiry for criminal contempt against the Deputy Commissioner for allegedly not complying with an earlier order and attempting to “personally attack” the judge “by manipulation and fabrication”.
“This is a reference made under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act 2015 made by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ganderbal in Criminal Reference against Mr. Shyambir, Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal. Issue notice to the contemnor, Mr Shyambir by Humdast. The contemnor shall appear in person before this Court on Monday i.e., 5th August 2024 at 11:00 am sharp,” the Court order read.
“Any attempt by him to avoid service of summons or his nonappearance shall be viewed seriously by this Court and the Court shall resort to coercive proceedings to secure his presence,” the order said.
The court has also appointed senior advocate R.A. Jan as amicus curiae to assist in the case.
The issue pertains to a case regarding land acquisition, in which the petitioners had approached Ganderbal court saying they were not compensated by the government after it acquired land from them. Sub-judge in Ganderbal district court, Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi, ordered the Deputy Commissioner to compensate the petitioners.
By June 21, the Sub-Judge noted that the order had not been implemented and directed the withholding of salaries for the DC and other officials.
On July 23, Sub-Judge Qureshi said that his previous order “didn't go well with Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, who attempted to personally attack the Presiding Officer (the sub-judge) by scandalising him and weakening him by manipulation and fabrication, and for this purpose, he called a meeting immediately after the order and conspired with some other officers/officials of the district to implicate the Presiding Officer of the court for passing a lawful order against the judgment-debtors”.
The judge said the DC found out that he had two kanals of land in Ganderbal, and that the DC “misused his official machinery and devoted time in tracing out the documents of the property, which the Presiding Officer lawfully holds”.
The sub judge had also issued a notice to DC to explain why he should not be referred to the High Court for criminal contempt.
