Supreme Court Holds Two Guilty Of Contempt After Failing To Vacate Rental Premises, 82-Yr Co-Tenant Fined ₹5 Lakh

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Supreme Court of India (SC) on September 26 judged two people as guilty of contempt of court, after they failed to vacate a rental premises in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, despite a court order on the same, PTI reported.

The case stems from an Allahabad High Court order upholding the Rent Control Authority's direction to evict the tenants/contemnors in the case, it added.

The apex court judged the two as“willfully disobeying its order to vacate their rental premises” and imposed three months civil imprisonment and ₹1 lakh fine on one; and a more lenient ₹5 lakh fine with no imprisonment sentence for the other, aged 82-years, according to a Live Law report.

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A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi sentenced one contemnor to three months' civil imprisonment and directed authorities to take him into custody and send him to Tihar Jail.

He was also ordered to pay a ₹1 lakh fine to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within two months, failing which he has to undergo an additional one-month prison time.

“Both contemnors are guilty of deliberate and willful non-compliance of the directions passed by this court and repeatedly attempting to make incorrect and misleading statements contrary to the record,” the bench said.

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The top court, however, preferred a lenient view for contemnor 1, imposing a ₹5,00,000 fine, which he was directed to deposit with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within two months. Any non-compliance would attract a month of civil prison, the top court added.

“In default of payment of fine, he shall serve a further period of civil prison for one month. He shall be taken into custody by the security personnel of this Court and be handed over to the jail authorities of Tihar Jail , Delhi to serve the sentence as directed,” the bench ordered.

As per the Live Law report, the SC had earlier directed the tenants to vacate by March 31, 2025, and later granted multiple extensions, followed by a final deadline of September 23, 2025. Their continued failure to comply led to contempt proceedings and the Court's stringent order, it added.

(With inputs from PTI)

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