Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Monday questioned why state govt officers were shying away from appearing before the court despite failing to comply with its orders.
The judge remarked that non-compliance and seeking routine exemptions from appearance have become a “casual affair”. The court further warned that the “judiciary cannot continue to be overly generous or accommodating towards officers who display scant respect for judicial directives”. Terming the defence – that payments would be made on a “priority basis” subject to budget limitations — as completely unacceptable, the bench questioned the state’s priorities in governance and highlighted that officers do not do the court or the public any favour by simply fulfilling their statutory obligations.
Expressing grave concern over how an officer (Vikas Raj) could travel abroad (official tour to Japan) despite standing directions to appear, the court questioned what the govt’s position would be if he was arrested at the airport. When counsel for the officers sought to submit a counter-affidavit along with applications to recall previous directions and seek exemption from the officers’ personal appearance, citing their preoccupation with an ongoing Legislative Assembly session, the court refused to entertain such routine requests. Later, after taking note that the court orders had been complied with, the judge closed the contempt proceedings.
Hearing a contempt petition in which it had earlier issued bailable warrants against senior IAS officers Sandeep Kumar Sultania and Vikas Raj for personal appearance, Justice NV Shravan Kumar strongly criticised the casual approach of state officials, emphasising that judicial orders are mandatory and must be strictly respected.