The Telangana High Court has sentenced Miyapur Circle Inspector M. Prem Kumar to four weeks of simple imprisonment and fined him Rs 2,000 for wilfully disobeying directions to provide police protection in a property dispute at Hafeezpet in Hyderabad.
Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy passed the order while allowing a contempt petition filed by A. Shekhar Babu and seven others. The petitioners alleged that the police had failed to implement an earlier court direction protecting their possession of a 700-square-yard property comprising Gokul Plots in Hafeezpet village.
The petitioners said they had purchased the property through a registered sale deed in 2009 and later secured a decree of permanent injunction. The decree was affirmed by the appellate court, while the High Court dismissed an application seeking suspension of the decree in a second appeal.
As the dispute continued, the High Court directed the Station House Officer of Miyapur Police Station on August 20, 2019, to provide police aid for implementing the permanent injunction. The petitioners later returned to court, alleging that effective protection had not been provided despite the order remaining in force.
On November 9, 2023, the High Court directed the Station House Officer to appear and explain the failure to provide police aid. The petitioners subsequently initiated contempt proceedings, alleging continued non-compliance with the judicial directions.
Additional Advocate General Mohammed Imran Khan opposed the contempt plea, submitting that Prem Kumar had assumed charge as Circle Inspector only on July 13, 2023, and was unaware of the earlier order until the petitioners brought it to his notice on November 7, 2023. He also told the court that the officer had visited the property with his staff on November 9 and instructed people carrying out construction work to stop.
The officer tendered an unconditional apology and sought closure of the contempt case. The court, however, held that once the subsisting judicial order had been brought to his notice, he was required to examine it and take appropriate steps to ensure its implementation.
Justice Bhaskar Reddy observed that merely claiming to have visited the property and stopped construction did not establish compliance with the direction to provide effective police aid. The court also held that the pendency of proceedings before a competent court did not permit a police officer to disregard a subsisting judicial order or substitute his own assessment of the dispute for the court’s directions.
The High Court found the officer guilty of civil contempt under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and declined to accept his unconditional apology. It sentenced him to four weeks of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. In default of payment, he will undergo an additional two weeks of simple imprisonment.
