Chhattisgarh HC issues bailable warrant against IAS officer for failing to respond to contempt notice

Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) [India], February 19 (ANI): The High Court of Chhattisgarh has issued a bailable warrant against an IAS officer for failing to respond to a contempt notice within the stipulated time period.

The court has issued the bailable warrant to IAS S Prakash, the then director in the panchayat department, for a sum of Rs 5,000 and directed the officer to appear before the court in person on March 24, said advocate Abhishek Pandey.

According to the advocate, lecturer (panchayat) Manjula Kashyap posted in Mahasamund district, had filed an application before the director of the panchayat department requesting to transfer her to Bilaspur, where her husband was posted at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP), as per the provision of transfer policy. As her application was not disposed of, Manjula filed the petition in the High Court.

Hearing the petition, the bench of Justice Goutam Bhaduri in June 2020 directed the panchayat department director S Prakash to ensure disposal of Manjula Kashyap’s representation regarding her transfer to Bilaspur within 90 days, Pandey said.

As the High Court’s directive did not comply within the stipulated timeframe, the petitioner filed a contempt plea, said advocate Pandey, who appeared in the court for the petitioner, elaborating that hearing the plea, the court issued a contempt notice to IAS S Prakash on October 13, 2020.

Even after the passing of over two years when the officer did not respond to the issued notice, the court issued a bailable warrant to IAS S Prakash, the then director of the panchayat department, for a sum of Rs 5,000 and directed him to appear before the court on March 24 in person, the advocate said. (ANI)