Court stays simple jail term for ex-corporation commissioner

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has granted a stay on the simple imprisonment of former commissioner of Madurai Corporation, Aneesh Sekhar which was ordered in a contempt case.
Recently, a single judge directed that Sekhar has to undergo simple imprisonment of one week and pay a fine of Rs 5,000 in a contempt petition moved by J Vijayakumar, who sought action against officials for disobeying an October 2016 court order directing the corporation to revise inter-seniority list for the post of revenue assistants and junior assistants and give promotion to five people within four weeks.
In his appeal, Sekhar, who is presently posted as executive director of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), stated that a government order issued in 2010 directed the corporation to promote tax collectors with eligibility to the post of assistants by relaxing the condition of working for two years in junior assistant post.
He stated that the government also directed the corporation to prepare a seniority list among the revenue assistant who joined service prior to 1996. When this letter was challenged the government’s clarification by a person Ahmed Ibrahim, the court dismissed the petition directing to promote the private respondents including Vijayakumar.
Ibrahim further challenged the order of the court in which the division bench gave orders with specific instructions which stated that though special benefit were given to the tax collectors who have been integrated to the post of assistants, they could not supersede the people who have been already appointed in the post of assistants.
Based on this direction Ibrahim was promoted to the post of junior assistant and assistant during 2009 and 2013 respectively. As the court in 2018 directed to redraw seniority list, Ibrahim was placed above Vijayakumar in the list. Sekhar also noted that Vijayakumar had already retired from service by then.
While this being so, Sekhar stated that he had no intention of disobeying the court order and sought for a stay on the proceedings.
When the appeal was heard on Wednesday, a division bench of justice P N Prakash and justice B Pugalendhi granted stay on the order.