The former Deputy Municipal Commissioner has been found guilty of contempt of court for not obeying lower court's orders in 1992.
Fifteen years after he permitted the reconstruction of shop premises in Chembur, the demolition man of yesteryears, GR Khairnar, was held guilty for contempt of court by the Bombay High court on January 25. He is now seeking leniency from the court on the sentence that is to be awarded to him. Under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, he can be awarded up to six months imprisonment or a fine or both.
In 1992, Prakash Shetty owner of ‘Maitree’ a restaurant in Chembur had filed a suit against illegal stall owners opposite his restaurant. Judge RY Ganoo of the City Civil Court had then granted an injunction on the construction of any more stalls in the area apart from those who were eligible to occupy the premises. Out of 35 stalls only 27 were found to be eligible.
Harish Dawda, one of the stall owners who did not qualify as one of the 27 legal stall owners approached the local municipal commissioner who referred his case to the then Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC), Khairnar. Shetty’s advocate, Vishwajeet Kapse said “As soon as the injunction was granted by the City Civil Court in March, 1992, we submitted all relevant documents and a copy of the injunction order to the DMC office in Ghatkopar immediately”.
But without referring to any documents the DMC Okayed Dawda’s case and allowed the reconstruction of his stall, Kapse added. When this was brought to the city civil judge’s notice by Shetty, he observed that this was a clear violation of the court’s order and issued contempt notices to Kahirnar, four ward officers, S Subramanium, AAB Shaikh, AS Kale and SD Ruparel and two other staff members of the DMC office.
In an affidavit filed in response to the contempt notice, Khairnar had tendered an apology and said that he was not aware about the injunction order. However, in a rejoinder filed to his affidavit, Kapse said that they had submitted a copy of the order to his office immediately after the order was passed. The court had then rejected his apology and the contempt charges were aggravated by his denial of having seen the injunction order. On Monday, Khairnar’s advocate Anil Sakhare argued in the HC that the court should show some leniency towards the former DMC as he has retired in June 2002 and is not likely to repeat the mistake. The sentence is likely to be awarded on Wednesday.
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