In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday sentenced Vineeta Srinandan to one week of simple imprisonment for making contemptuous remarks against the judiciary. The court also imposed a Rs 20,000 fine on her for derogatory comments stemming from a dispute over dog feeding in a housing society in Navi Mumbai.
Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna, presiding over the bench, rejected Srinandan’s apology, which they described as insincere and typical of such contempt cases. “We will not accept crocodile tears and the routine sorry mantra, usually made by the contemnors in such cases,” the justices remarked.
The controversy began when Leela Verma, a resident of the society, approached the High Court alleging harassment from the managing committee, of which Srinandan is a member, regarding feeding stray dogs. The court had previously directed that grievances about feeding locations should be addressed to the municipal corporation rather than harassing residents.
Despite the court’s conciliatory approach in the January 21 ruling, Srinandan reportedly sent emails to other committee members containing contemptuous remarks about the judges, referring to the court as “dog mafia.” This led to the initiation of contempt proceedings against her.
While the court condemned Srinandan’s comments as “conscious and brazenly derogatory,” it granted an eight-day stay on the imprisonment order to allow her time to appeal the decision.
