Senior citizens to pay Rs 5 Lakh for contempt

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered two senior citizens, aged 74 and 84 years, to pay Rs 5 lakh each to Tata Memorial Cancer Research centre after they were found guilty of contempt of court orders.

The duo had created tenancy rights in a south Mumbai building that belonged to a trust despite the restraining order by court in 2000. The suo moto contempt proceedings were initiated after the court was informed that both of them had breached court’s orders by letting out two flats.

A single bench of Justice M.S. Sonak was hearing the contempt proceedings. The court held that the duo had “willfully breached” the court’s interim order.

The building situated at Strand Road in Mumbai was owned by a trust in which Mohammed Bahauddin and Jaffar Imam were trustees. The duo had let out two flats in the disputed property despite the stay order.

In 2000, a trial court had passed an order restraining the trustees from transferring, alienating, creating third party rights or letting out the Trust properties during the pendency of the suit in which both of them were parties. The same interim order was upheld by the high court.

In their defence the duo informed the court that they had misunderstood the 2000 court order and as there were no directions to be complied with, they went ahead and rented the flats.

The duo also tried to apologise to the court and produced medical records, claiming that they were suffering from old-age related ailments.

“The apologies neither appear to be unconditional nor appear to have genuine expression of remorse,” said the judge. The high court said that they were guilty of wilful and deliberate breach of the interim orders and hence guilty of contempt of the court.

The court further held that in light of their health, they could not be imprisoned but considering they called themselves “nawabs and nawabjadas” (men of means) they were in a position to pay a fine.