The appellant committed contempt by willfully disobeying a court order directing the deposit of compensation, emphasizing the imperative for compliance with judicial directives.

JUDGMENT :

P. VELMURUGAN, J.

This Contempt Appeal has been filed under Section 19 of the Contempt of Courts Act , 1971 challenging the order dated 04.08.2023 passed by the learned Single Judge in Cont.P.No.642 of 2020, whereby the appellant, who was the second respondent in the contempt petition, was held guilty of wilful disobedience of the order passed by this Court in W.M.P.No.3683 of 2020 in W.P.No.3177 of 2020 dated 10.02.2020.

2. The respondent herein, namely R. Rajendran, had filed W.P.No.3177 of 2020 before this Court. The said writ petition arose out of land acquisition proceedings initiated for formation of Bangalore–Chennai Expressway by the National Highways Authority of India. For the purpose of the said National Highways Scheme, lands situated in Sriperumbudur Taluk of Kanchipuram District, particularly in Nemili-A and Ayakolathur villages, were sought to be acquired pursuant to notification issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 05.12.2017. In the course of acquisition proceedings, awards were passed and compensation amounts were being disbursed to land owners.

3. The writ petitioner claimed that he had purchased plots in various layouts formed in the said villages. According to him, in the approved layout plans developed by the promoters, certain portions of land had been earmarked for public purposes such as roads, streets, school, park and other public utilities and were designated as Open Space Reservation lands. It was his specific case that such OSR lands had been handed over to the local body concerned by way of gift deeds and therefore the said lands had already vested with the local body and ceased to be private lands of any individual.

4. The grievance of the writ petitioner was that during the land acquisition proceedings for the National Highways project, certain individuals managed to get the lands which were originally earmarked as OSR lands registered in their names as if they were private lands and on that basis claimed compensation from the land acquisition authorities. According to the writ petitioner, huge sums of compensation had already been disbursed or were in the process of being disbursed to such individuals in respect of lands which were originally earmarked as OSR lands and which had already vested with the local body. It was further contended that if at all compensation was payable in respect of such lands, the same ought to be distributed proportionately to the plot owners in the layout and not to private individuals who had subsequently obtained registration.

5. In these circumstances, the writ petitioner submitted a representation to the authorities requesting them not to disburse compensation to private individuals in respect of the lands in question and to consider his claim. As there was no response and apprehending imminent disbursement of compensation, he filed W.P.No.3177 of 2020 before this Court seeking appropriate directions.

6. When the writ petition came up for admission, this Court, by order dated 10.02.2020 made in W.M.P.No.3683 of 2020 in W.P.No.3177 of 2020, passed an interim direction to the effect that the respondents therein shall determine the compensation payable in respect of the lands in question and deposit the same in an interest-bearing fixed deposit in a nationalised bank in the name of the Registrar General of this Court, pending further orders. The purpose of the said interim order was to ensure that the compensation amount was safeguarded and not disbursed to any private party until the dispute raised in the writ petition was resolved.

7. According to the writ petitioner, the interim orde