TS & AP HC initiates Criminal Contempt against Guntur Municipal Commissioner

The Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court has initiated Criminal Contempt proceedings against the Municipal Commissioner of Guntur for suppression of material facts..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice MSK Jaiswal held that an affidavit filed by the Commissioner C Anuradha on November 14 last year, stating that a slaughterhouse ordered shut by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) three years earlier, was not being operated by the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC), amounted to a suppression of facts..The Court held that her failure to inform it that the slaughterhouse – ordered shut by the APPCB on November 27, 2014 – had in fact been operating under the superintendence and control of the GMC until November 8, 2017, was an attempt to mislead the Court. The Special Government Pleader for the GMC had sought a week’s time on November 7 last year to seek instructions from his client, following which the November 14 affidavit was filed..The petitioner’s counsel had drawn the attention of the Court to certain news reports that the slaughterhouse continued to function, at which point the Bench sought a report from the Principal District Judge. The report, which was submitted a week later, found that the GMC was indeed operating the slaughterhouse and that they had been collecting licensing fees from vendors, had invited tenders, and had even granted leases..The Commissioner was then directed to file an additional affidavit, in which she stated that the slaughterhouse was indeed running, but placed the blame on her subordinate for misleading her. She had stated that Medical Health Officer Dr Y Rajender Prasad was responsible for the lapse, and that she was unable to take action against him as he had been transferred to another Corporation..This response however failed to cut ice, and the High Court Registry was directed to initiate Criminal Contempt, and issue a show cause notice to Anuradha..The Member Secretary of the APPCB was asked to inform the Court on the next date of hearing why they had failed to initiate action against the authorities under powers vested in the board under Section 49 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution Act ) 1974..The matter will be heard again four weeks from today.