Hyderabad:Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court sentenced Manohar Reddy, executive officer of Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad, to one month of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2,000 in a contempt case for wilful disobedience of court orders.Despite the court orders, executive officer not taken action to extend the lease period of a contractor for collecting saris donated at the temple by devotees.The court also took a serious view of the EO appearing before the court only after bailable warrants were issued. However, the court suspended the sentence for 15 days to allow Manohar Reddy to pursue legal remedies.The contempt case was filed by Rakesh Agaiduty, complaining that EO disobeyed the court’s order dated June 13, directing the extension of Agaiduty’s lease for collecting saris by five months, starting July 1. Despite receiving multiple communications, including a registered letter on June 14, and a legal notice on July 6, Reddy failed to comply with the court’s directive. The petitioner repeatedly sought the implementation of the court’s order.T. Surya Satish, counsel for the EO, argued that an appeal against the High Court’s order had been filed but was dismissed by a division bench on July 19 and a special leave petition (SLP) was filed before the Supreme Court.Justice Sravan Kumar pointed out that the apex court had not stayed the High Court’s orders. Hence, the officer could not escape from implementing the High Court orders.
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