The Allahabad High Court has imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on Basti District Magistrate (DM) Ravish Gupta and the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) for non-compliance with a court order related to salary deductions.
The court acted after discovering that illegal deductions continued despite an earlier order to stop the surcharge.
The court’s decision, delivered by Justice JJ Munir, came in response to a petition filed by Kusum Lata Singh.
The petitioner had challenged an order by DM Gupta that imposed a surcharge of Rs 8.70 lakh on her, along with a monthly deduction of Rs 10,000 from her salary.
Despite the court’s directive to halt the deductions and investigate the matter within two months, Rs 1.40 lakh had already deducted from Singh’s salary before the High Court intervened.
The court condemned the persistent recovery actions as contemptuous, remarking, “It is incredulous that officers would disregard a High Court order.”
The bench noted that the ongoing deductions, despite the overturned order, were illegal and showed a blatant disregard for judicial directives.
Advocate Sheikh Muazzam represented Singh, arguing that the court had improperly imposed the surcharge and that the recovery process violated the court’s instructions.
The court found the DM’s justification for continuing the deductions unconvincing, emphasizing that once an order ends, any further recovery is impermissible.
In addition to the fine, the court has ensured that no further deductions will be made from Singh’s salary.
