The Madras High Court has set aside one-month simple imprisonment awarded to IAS officer Anshul Mishra (IAS:2004:TN) by a single judge for contempt of court.
A Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and S. Sounthar held the punishment imposed on the officer was unwarranted since he had complied with the order passed by the single judge even before the statutory notice was issued to him in the contempt matter.
The bench, however, expressed “strong displeasure” over the undue delay in complying with the court order.
The case relates to a writ petition filed by elderly siblings R. Lalithambal and K.S. Viswananthan in 2003. The petitioners initiated a legal battle to retrieve 17 cents of their land abutting Nesapakkam Road in Chennai which had been acquired in 1983 for a public for constructing Tamil Nadu Housing Board tenements but reportedly not used for the same.
Pursuant to a writ petition filed in 2003, followed by contempt proceedings, about 10.5 cents of the land was reconveyed to them but the rest of 6.5 cents was retained for the purpose of widening the Nesapakkam Road. The siblings started a second round of litigation to get back the remaining property.
Disposing of their second writ petition on November 22, 2023, Justice P. Velmurugan of the High Court had directed the CMDA Member Secretary to consider the couple’s plea and pass appropriate orders within two months. However, since the order was not complied with, the siblings filed a contempt plea in 2024.
Justice Velmurugan had found him guilty of contempt on April 28, 2025, and awarded a simple imprisonment, besides a compensation of ₹25,000 to be paid to the siblings from his personal funds.
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