Allahabad High Court
Rajesh Kumar vs Ajay Dwivedi Municipal ... on 12 April, 2023
Bench: Abdul Moin
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Court No. - 8
Case :- CONTEMPT APPLICATION (CIVIL) No. - 394 of 2021
Applicant :- Rajesh Kumar
Opposite Party :- Ajay Dwivedi Municipal Commissioner Lko. And Another
Counsel for Applicant :- Ghaus Beg
Counsel for Opposite Party :- Namit Sharma,Shailendra Singh Chauhan
Hon'ble Abdul Moin,J.
Heard.
The present contempt petition has been filed alleging non compliance of the order dated 17.11.2020 passed by the writ Court in Writ Petition No.20769 (S/S) of 2020 in re: Rajesh Kumar versus State of U.P. and Others. By the said order, the writ Court had stayed the order dated 09.06.2020 by which the petitioner had been stopped from working as Motor Mechanic.
When the order has not been complied with, the instant contempt application was filed.
In the short counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent no.2, specific averment has been made in paragraph 8 of the said affidavit that it has been informed by the agency in which the petitioner was recruited as the labourer that the agency has removed the petitioner from its services and as such work should not be taken from him.
The argument of Shri Namit Sharma and Shri S.S. Chauhan, learned counsels for the respondents is that once the agency, which had appointed the petitioner, had itself required the Nagar Nigam not to take work from the petitioner consequently the petitioner not being an employee of the corporation, no work can be taken from him.
Responding to that, the argument of Shri Ghaus Beg, learned counsel for the petitioner is that once an order has been passed by the writ Court consequently it is duty of the respondents to have complied with the order in letter and spirit and such pretext of the petitioner having been recruited through outsourcing agency cannot be taken.
To that the argument of learned counsel for the respondents is that an application for vacation of stay order along with a counter affidavit has already been filed. Placing reliance upon the judgment of the Vinay Kumar Pandey versus Committee of Management passed in Civil Appeal No.4007-4008 of 2020 decided on 08.12.2020. It is argued that the Apex Court has held that till such time the stay vacation application is pending for consideration before the writ Court, the contempt proceedings cannot be sustained.
The counter argument of Shri Ghaus Beg is that the interim order has been passed after hearing Shri Namit Sharma, learned counsel appearing for Corporation-respondent and as such it cannot be said that it an ex-parte order and simply because stay vacation application is filed, the same would not result in this contempt Court not proceeding against the respondent for willful and deliberate disobedience of the interim order passed by the Writ Court.
Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record, what emerges is that even though a dispute, as raised by the respondents, of the petitioner not being an employee of the corporation rather having been appointed through an outsourcing agency is not gone into by the contempt Court yet the fact of the matter remains that stay vacation application along with the counter affidavit has already been filed by the respondents which is pending for consideration before the writ Court.
Apex Court in the case of Vinay Kumar Pandey (supra) has held that in case an application for stay vacation along with the counter affidavit has been filed then till such time the submissions has raised in that application seeking vacation are adequately addressed and rejected, no case for initiation of contempt proceeding is made out.
Considering the judgment of Apex Court in the case of Vinay Kumar Pandey (supra), this Court does not find it expedient to proceed further with the contempt proceedings.
Accordingly, the contempt application is consigned to record.
It is open to the petitioner to have the proceedings revived in case any order is passed in favour of the petitioner.
Order Date :- 12.4.2023
S. Shivhare
