CHENNAI, May 23: The Madras High Court has found Indian Administrative Service Officer Anshul Mishra guilty of contempt of court and directed him to undergo simple imprisonment for one month.
The court, however, suspended the sentence until he could prefer an appeal before a Division Bench of the court.
Justice P. Velmurugan directed the Madras High Court Registry to take steps for securing the custody of the former Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Member Secretary and make him undergo the sentence if he does not prefer the appeal within the limitation period of 30 days. Displeased with the government authorities having taken two years to comply with a court order, which insisted that they take a decision within two months, Justice Velmurugan wrote.
Court also directed Mr. Mishra to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 from the personal funds of the IAS officer and not from public funds to elderly siblings R. Lalithambal and K.S. Viswananthan, who had been struggling for years to retrieve their valuable immovable property, which was acquired for a public purpose but reportedly not used for the same.
In default, the officer was ordered to undergo simple imprisonment for another 10 days.
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