LexS.K. DASGUPTA & ORS. versus VIJAY SINGH SENGAR & ORS.
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
[2010] 7 S.C.R. 881 S.K. DASGUPTA & ORS. V. VIJAY SINGH SENGAR & ORS. (Civil Appeal of 6794 of 2003) MAY 5, 2010* [HARJIT SINGH BEDI AND K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, JJ.] Conte mp~ of Court Contempt petition before High Court -· Arising out of directions by High Court in a writ petition filed in public interest to officials of State Electricity Board to provide uninterrupted supply of electricity to government Hospitals and street lights A B c to be on during nights, throughout the State - High Court directing impleadment of senior Members of the Board and D others as 1 contemnors and ordering inquiry to be held by CBI - HELD: The directions made by High Court are clearly beyond courts' jurisdiction in a public interest litigation as they interfere with the functioning of independent State agencies in matters which are beyond their control insofar as E uninterrupted supply of electricity is concerned - It cannot be ignored that shortage of power is a phenomenon common to the entire country and to single out Members of the Board or the Regulatory Commission for failure to comply with the directions of the High Court which are incapable of F compliance, is not called for - Officers of the Board have repeatedly come to Court to explain that the situation was beyond their control and that the shortfall in the supply of electric power was not of their making nor in their control - High Court ignored this basic fact and passed orders which G were incapable of compliance - Order of the High Court set aside and contempt proceeding discharged - Public Interest Litigation. •Judgment Recd. on 26.7.2010 881 H 882 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2010] 7 S.C.R. A PUBLIC INTEREST LIT/GA TION: Jurisdiction in public interest litigation- Held: Is to be invoked sparingly and with rectitude and any order made therein must be reasonable and must not reflect the pique of B the court, more particularly, as it is not court's business to attempt to run the government in a manner which the court thinks is the proper way - Judicial restraint. c CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 6794 of 2003. From the Judgment & Order dated 1.4.2003 of the High Court of Judicature of M.P. Bench at Gwalior (M.P.) in CP (C) No. 37 of 2003 in W.P. No. 677 of 2003. WITH D C.A. Nos. 6795 & 6796 of 2003. E Ashiesh Kumar, B.S. Banthia for the appearing parties. The following Order of the Court was delivered ORDER These appeals arise out of a contempt petition wherein a Sin~ile Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Gwalior Bench, in his order dated 1st April, 2003 has ordered an enquiry against some officials and members of the M.P. State F Electricity Board by the Central Bureau of Investigation and arrayed some senior Members of the Board and others as contemnors as well. The facts are as under: G The respondent, Vijay Singh Sengar, a practising Advocate at Jabalpur, filed a writ petition in public interest pointing out that patients in Government hospitals were suffering great agony on account of un-scheduled load- shedding from 6.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. and 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 H p.m. and that the entire State was plunged into darkness taking S.K. DASGUPTA & ORS. v. VIJAY SINGH SENGAR & 883 ORS. the State back to the 'Stone Age Days'. Alongwith the writ A petition a large number of newspaper cuttings were also appended, to substantiate the pleas that had been raised. During the hearing of the petition several senior officers of the Board were summoned to Court including Mr. R.N. Mishra, the Chief Engineer (0 & M). It was also observed in an interim B order made by the Court that the Board had undertaken to take all measures to supply electricity for street lights and that in a democratic set up it was the responsibility of the State to ma1ntain all essential services and the basic amenities of life. It was also observed that it was a matter of common c knowledge that the absence of the power supply to Government hospitals caused great discomfort, pain and constituted a danger to the patients who were admitted therein. By an order dated 13th September, 2001, a direction was accordingly given in the following terms: "We, therefore, as an interim measure, direct respondents 1 and 2 to maintain round the clock electricity supply in the Government Hospitals throughout the State. We further direct that the street lights shall be kept on D throughout the State between sunset
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.