DC Ganderbal tenders apology in court in contempt case

SRINAGAR: An IAS officer facing contempt of court proceedings before the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh tendered a written apology in the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Ganderbal on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Shyambir Singh submitted an affidavit in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi, tendering his sincere apology.

Singh appeared before the court and verbally reaffirmed the apology, the CJM noted in his order and forwarded the case file to the high court for disposal.

Singh also submitted that he did not intend to interfere with the administration of justice and would abide by court orders.

The high court on Monday granted two days to Singh to decide whether he would like to submit an affidavit of apology to a subordinate court in the criminal contempt case.

A division bench comprising Justices Atul Sreedharan and Sanjeev Kumar, while granting two days to Singh for making up his mind, listed the case for hearing again on Wednesday (August 14).

“The contemnor orally submitted in this court that whatever he did was not intentional to undermine the dignity of the learned court. He asked for some time to think over whether he is willing to file an affidavit of apology and personally appear before the court below,” the bench said in an order passed after Monday’s proceedings.

On August 5, the high court directed Singh to answer the charges of criminal contempt against him in person.

The proceedings against Singh, a 2018-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer serving as the deputy commissioner of Ganderbal since 2022, were initiated after allegations surfaced that he had retaliated against Ganderbal sub-judge Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi and allegedly abused his official position to intimidate and harass him.

Qureshi had passed an order to attach Singh’s salary due to non-compliance with an October 2022 court order.

According to the sub-judge, the deputy commissioner allegedly misused his position to harass him, including unauthorised visits to his property by government officials.

This was perceived as an attempt to undermine judicial authority and retaliate against the court’s decision.

In ordering the criminal contempt proceedings last month, Qureshi also recommended that the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary take administrative action against Singh under the Government Conduct Rules, 1971, describing him as a “constant potential threat” to the judiciary.

In its order, the bench said any attempt by Singh to avoid the service of summons or his non-appearance shall be viewed seriously and the court shall resort to coercive proceedings to secure his presence. (PTI)