SC Orders Andhra Deputy Collector’s Demotion for Violating HC Order

New Delhi,  : The Supreme Court has directed the demotion of a Deputy Collector in
Andhra Pradesh who forcibly removed slumdwellers’ huts in Guntur district in violation of the orders of the High Court. A bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih ordered that the state government demote Deputy Collector T. Mohan Rao to the post of tehsildar. It also directed him to deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh within four weeks. The apex court order came on a petition filed by Mohan Rao against a High Court order which found him guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to two months’ simple imprisonment. The bench observed that if he undergoes a sentence of two months, he would be dismissed from his service, thereby depriving his family of livelihood. However, to send a message, it directed the government to demote him by one level in the hierarchy of his service. Mohan Rao, in his capacity as tshsildar, had disobeyed the
directions of the High Court by removing huts, thereby displacing the slum-dwellers.
The High Court on December 11, 2013, had directed him not to remove the huts, passing the order on the petitions of four persons who contended that revenue authorities were seeking to evict them from the plots in their occupation without considering their representations. However, disobeying the orders of the High Court, the tehsildar removed the huts in 2014. Taking serious note of this contempt, the High Court sentenced him to simple imprisonment for two months.

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