HC Suspends Simple Imprisonment Order Against Eatery Owner by a Week

A two-judge bench of the Telangana High Court suspended for a week the punishment of simple imprisonment against the franchise owner of an eatery. Earlier a single judge of the court had recorded a finding that the appellant had violated an order of status quo passed in a writ petition filed by him. The single judge allowed a contempt case filed by actor D. Venkatesh, who contended that the contemnor had proceeded with interior works despite a status quo order. 

The single judge on the basis of a report submitted by the civic authorities found that the contemnors had carried out the works at the place and therefore had violated the orders of the court. By an order dated February 23, the single judge had punished Nandu Kumar, the proprietor of the



eatery, for contempt with a sentence of one month of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000. Senior counsel appearing for the contemnor pointed out that the “so-called inspection” that formed the basis of the contempt proceedings was conducted without notice to the petitioner. 

He pointed out that the report was placed on file by a private party (actor Venkatesh) and not by the civic authorities. He pointed out that in any event it did not satisfy the requirement of photographic evidence as required by a single judge. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Anil Kumar, granted time to the complainant to respond to the appeal and posted the matter to March 28.