The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on Friday ordered an IAS officer, Shyambir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Ganderbal, to appear in person in the court on August 5 to answer charges of criminal contempt
Following a reference made by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ganderbal, Justices Atul Sreedharan and Sanjeev Kumar ordered,
“Issue notice to the contemnor, Mr Shyambir by Humdast. The contemnor shall appear in person before this Court on Monday i.e., 5th August 2024 at 11:00 am sharp. Any attempt by him to avoid service of summons or his nonappearance shall be viewed seriously by this Court and the Court shall resort to coercive proceedings to secure his presence”.
The proceedings were initiated after allegations surfaced that the Deputy Commissioner had retaliated against Sub-Judge Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi. This followed Judge Qureshi’s order to attach Shyambir’s salary due to non-compliance with a judgment dated October 31, 2022.
According to the judicial order from Sub Judge Qureshi, the Deputy Commissioner allegedly misused his position to harass the judge, including unauthorized visits to the judge’s property by government officials. This was perceived as an attempt to undermine judicial authority and retaliate against the court’s decision.
The court had noted that Singh’s actions aimed to “scandalize and weaken” Judge Qureshi through manipulation and fabrication, constituting criminal contempt.
