Division bench gives relief to three IAS officers

Three IAS officers in Telangana State, who were ordered by a single judge to pay fines or undergo imprisonment for contempt of court, got relief on Friday when the division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice P Naveen Rao of the Hyderabad High Court suspended the sentence till further orders.

The bench was dealing with the appeals separately moved by Sharath, Commissioner of Marketing Department, Raghunandan, Collector of Ranga Reddy district and Sridevi, Collector of Mahabubnagar district against the sentence awarded by the single judge.

The single judge had imposed Rs 5,000 fine on Sharath for committing the contempt by wilfully disobeying the court order in allotting shops in Gudimalkapur market for vegetable commission agents.

He had also ordered that the officer would have to undergo seven days simple imprisonment if he failed to pay the costs imposed.
Similarly the judge imposed costs of Rs 1,116 on both Raghunandan and Sridevi for disobeying the court orders. The division bench, however, stayed these sentences until further orders.