Jharkhand HC imposes Rs 25,000 fine each on four water resources dept officials for contempt

Ranchi, Aug 29 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Friday held four senior officials of the water resources department guilty of contempt and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each for failing to comply with a court order regarding salary dues of a former employee.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi directed the officials to deposit the amount with the Jharkhand Legal Services Authority (JHALSA) through the Registrar General’s office.

The four officers are principal secretary Prashant Kumar, water resources department chief engineer Jameel Akhtar, Tenughat Dam superintending engineer Sanjeev Kumar and executive engineer Ranjit Kujur.

The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Lakhan Prasad Yadav for non compliance of court orders.

Yadav had earlier filed a writ petition before the HC claiming salary for the period from November 15, 2000 to December 27, 2020 as a typist in the department in a Class III post.

On December 1, 2020, the court had ordered the department to pay salary arrears to Yadav.

The department then challenged the order of the single judge before the division bench in the high court which dismissed the appeal on February 22, 2023. Thereafter, the department again challenged the order before the Supreme Court, which also dismissed the petition on March 19, 2025.

The department then gave an undertaking before the Supreme Court that dues of Yadav will be calculated and disbursed in four weeks.

However, when the payment was not released to Yadav, he filed a contempt petition before the High Court, saying despite the undertaking of the department before the top court, money wasn't paid to him.

During the contempt proceedings on August 22, the department informed the High Court that Rs 1,00,000 had been paid to petitioner, and an additional Rs 11,87,230 had been disbursed after calculation.

However, the court found that the payment was made much later than claimed, and a false affidavit had been submitted, falsely stating an earlier payment date.

The court observed that filing of a false affidavit by the contemnors was a deliberate violation of the orders of the court.

The case will again be heard on September 12. PTI CORR NAM MNB