HC fumes at 'audacity' of officials to disobey court orders; issues contempt notice to SSC director

The Bombay High Court has expressed its displeasure over the ''audacity'' of government officials to disobey court orders and issued a contempt notice against the director of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for wilful disobedience. A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Hiten Venegaonkar on April 24 said it was deeply concerned that disobedience of HC orders is becoming so widespread that hundreds of contempt petitions are filed each year, largely against the state and central governments or their officials. The bench issued the contempt notice to Staff Selection Commission Director R G Singh and posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday. Singh was at liberty to file an affidavit explaining his conduct, the HC said. It noted that despite court orders, two Pune residents - Sushant Sarode and Aniket Jadhav - aspiring to join the CISF/BSF were not inducted into the training programme. The duo was refused admission after a physical examination, where their height did not match the prescribed limit. The court, while ordering for the petitioners to be inducted into the training programme, had noted that the height difference was minuscule. However, the HC order was not complied with, and the petitioners are still waiting to be inducted. ''This is a classic case wherein, prima facie, we find that even officers in the service of this nation have displayed the audacity to disobey the orders of this court. Much turns upon the discipline of such officers in respecting the Majesty of Law,'' the HC said. The court noted that despite directions to the SSC director to appear before it, he failed to do so. ''We are appalled by the fact that the tendency to disobey orders of the High Court is growing to such an extent that hundreds of contempt petitions are being registered each year, most of them on account of disobedience by the state government, the central government, or their officers,'' the bench said.

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