Supreme Court Issues Non-Bailable Warrant In Contempt Case Against Litigant For Not Depositing Rs 1 Lakh Cost

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 23) issued a non-bailable warrant against one Upendra Nath Dalai for his repetitive failure to appear before the court in the suo-moto contempt proceedings initiated against him.

The contempt proceeding was initiated by the Supreme Court last year when Dalai failed to deposit the cost of Rs 1 lakh Rupees that was imposed on him for filing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition to declare Satsang founder 'Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra' a 'parmatma'.

In an earlier order, the court after recording that Dalai chose not to appear before the court, issued a bailable warrant to secure his presence in the court.

When the matter was called today, the bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal noted that Dalai was absent, despite the bailable warrant. The bench said that he has committed contempt again by replying to the Court's notice that "I decline to appear in Court."

The Court expressed extreme displeasure with the conduct of Dalai and considered it disrespectful to the court's earlier order.

“Non-deposit of the cost…that was the reason for issuing a contempt notice to the party (Dalai), and thereafter in response to that what he has written is that 'I decline to appear in court',” the bench said.

Taking note of the failure on the part of the petitioner, the court this time issued a non-bailable warrant to be executed through Superintendent of Police, Dist. Balasore to enable the physical presence of Dalai on the next date of hearing which is posted on February 13, 2024.

It was in December 2022 that a bench comprising Justices MR Shah (since retired) and CT Ravikumar dismissed the writ petition filed by Dalai.

"India is a secular country and the petitioner cannot be permitted to pray that the citizens of India may accept Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra as (supreme spirit)", the bench observed in the order. Terming the petition a "publicity interest litigation", the bench imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner, which was to be deposited within a period of four weeks.

Case Details: IN RE: CONTEMPT AGAINST UPENDRA NATH DALAI | SMC (C) No(s).3/2023

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