In a stern message underscoring the supremacy of judicial authority, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Andhra Pradesh government to demote a deputy collector to the post of tehsildar for willfully disobeying a 2013 high court order and forcibly removing hutments in Guntur district in January 2014.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih held that the officer, who was promoted to deputy collector in 2023, had committed “deliberate and utter disobedience” of the high court’s direction which had explicitly restrained eviction of hutments.
“Disobedience of the orders passed by the court attacks the very foundation of the rule of law on which our democracy is based,” the bench observed, adding, “Every authority, howsoever high, is bound to respect and comply with the court’s orders.”
While the Supreme Court confirmed the high court’s finding of contempt, it modified the sentence of two months’ imprisonment imposed earlier. Instead, it ordered the officer’s demotion and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh. “Though we take a lenient view, a message requires to be given that no one, howsoever high he may be, is above the law,” the bench emphasized.
The contempt proceedings originated from a plea against the officer—who was then a tehsildar—alleging he forcibly demolished hutments in violation of a December 11, 2013 high court directive.
The apex court, during earlier proceedings, had asked the officer if he was willing to accept a demotion. On Friday, his counsel submitted that the officer “will go down to any punishment.”
Dismissing the officer’s appeal, the Supreme Court concluded that allowing such defiance would erode the judicial system. Justice Gavai stated, “We want the message to go throughout the country that nobody would tolerate disobedience of the court’s order.”
The Andhra Pradesh government has now been directed to implement the demotion and recover the imposed fine.
