Madhya Pradesh High Court Orders Man To Plant 50 trees In Month In Contempt Case

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered a man to plant 50 trees of indigenous species within a month, while accepting his apology in a criminal contempt case.
A division bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued the order on December 2 in a suo motu criminal contempt petition against Rahul Sahu.

"Keeping in view the conduct, we direct that respondent (Sahu) shall plant 50 trees of indigenous species in the area of Sambalgarh in Morena district. The trees shall be of indigenous nature of at least height of 4 feet," it said.

"The trees shall be planted under the direction of Sub Divisional Officer (Forest), Sambalgarh. The trees will be planted within a period of one month," it said.

The high court took suo motu action on a contempt reference received from the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Sambalgarh.

"The respondent is present in person. He (Sahu) has filed his affidavit dated October 15, 2024 and has contended that he is a semi-literate person and has studied only up to Class 10," the court order said.

"He submits that he does not have formal legal education and has limited knowledge of legal procedure and is unfamiliar with the decorum and requirement of court proceeding," it said.

The order said that Sahu expressed regret and remorse at his conduct and furnished unconditional apology and undertakes to be careful in future.

"He has volunteered to undertake social service," the court said.

The area where the trees shall be planted would be decided by the Sub Divisional Officer (Forest), Sambalgarh, it added.

"The respondent complying with the direction, the proceedings shall stand closed," the court order said.

Sahu posted certain photograph of the court in Morena with a comment on a social media platform related to court proceedings when a family case filed by his wife was being heard, his advocate Ashish Singh Jadoun told PTI.

The JMFC took cognisance of the social media post and served notice to Sahu, but he did not respond despite giving an opportunity. The JMFC later referred the matter to the high court, the counsel said. 

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