The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant a stay on a non-bailable warrant, issued by the Allahabad High Court, against Noida Chief Executive Officer and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ritu Maheshwari.
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against her after she failed to appear in court in a contempt case related to land acquisition. The high court had directed the police to arrest her and present her in court for the next hearing on May 13.
She filed an appeal against the high court order on Monday. She was represented by Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, who requested Chief Justice of India NV Ramana for an urgent hearing.
"She is a woman IAS officer and has two young children who had examinations. She appeared before the high court but was late in reaching the court. It is unfortunate that the high court has issued an NBW (non-bailable) against her," Balbir Singh said.
Chief Justice Ramana, however, declined to grant a stay on the warrant order. "As an IAS officer, she knows the rules and laws. If you do not respect the court orders, then you must face the music. Every day we see this is happening, especially in Allahabad High Court. One or the other officer is coming before us seeking relief against the high court passing some order against them for defiance of court," the Chief Justice said.
The Supreme Court then told the Additional Solicitor General to submit the petition documents in case the matter needs to be listed before an appropriate bench. But he clarified he would list the matter only if he thinks it's needed.
"I cannot order the petition's listing without perusing the contents of the plea and satisfying myself," the Chief Justice said.
On Thursday, the Allahabad High Court had strongly objected to Maheshwari failing to appear before the court on time despite several notices. She was expected to appear in court at 10 am but her lawyer told the court that she was taking a flight from Delhi at 10:30 am.
The high court in its order said, "She was supposed to be here at 10 am. Therefore, the court cannot countenance the conduct of the CEO, Noida, in taking flight after the functioning of the court starts and expecting the court to wait for her and take up the matter after she reaches the court. This conduct of the CEO is reprehensible and amounts to contempt of court, in as much as she has been summoned by the court in a contempt proceeding for non-compliance with an order passed by writ court."
"She was expected to be present in court when the functioning of the court starts at 10 am, rather she chose to take a flight at 10:30 am from Delhi deliberately with the expectation that the court will take up the matter as per her convenience," the high court said.
The Allahabad High Court case is linked to a matter about land acquisition where the high court had quashed the Noida authority's land acquisition orders and ordered it to pay compensation to the petitioner. But despite the orders, the Noida authority did not pay the compensation, which led to contempt proceedings and the Noida CEO being summoned by the court.
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