Division Bench of High Court suspends single-Judge Bench verdict on jail term for two bureaucrats

The single-Judge Bench, headed by Justice Battu Devanand, gave its verdict in respect of the case related to the service matter of an employee.

A Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday suspended the single-Judge Bench verdict sentencing two bureaucrats in a contempt case to undergo one month jail and pay a fine of ₹2,000.

The single-Judge Bench, headed by Justice Battu Devanand, gave its verdict in respect of the case related to the service matter of an employee.

When the government appealed to the court to suspend the verdict, and after the officials, IAS officer B. Rajasekhar and IRS officer V. Ramakrishna, tendered an unconditional apology for the delay in implementing its earlier orders, the single-Judge Bench, while reducing the jail term, ordered that the officials undergo imprisonment until the court ended for the day and pay a fine of ₹1,000.

Challenging the sentence, the government approached the Division Bench, comprising Justices C. Praveen Kumar and B.V.L.N. Chakravarthi, and argued that the officials were not guilty as they implemented the earlier orders of the court.

The contempt appeal was filed under Section 19 of the Contempt Courts Act before the Division Bench.

The government also informed the Division Bench that the delay was due to a writ petition and a review petition filed in the court on the same matter. While the writ appeal was dismissed, the review was still pending, the government told the Division Bench.

Imposing a fine and directing the officials to undergo imprisonment till evening would go into the service records and affect their future, Special Government Pleader Sumon Chintala argued.