On Tuesday (23rd January), the Supreme Court ordered a non-bailable warrant against a defendant identified as Upendra Nath Dalai who refused to deposit previously ordered fees and then called the notice of contempt proceedings against him “useless” and “disrespectful.”
A bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal opposed the language used by litigant Upendra Nath Dalai, and directed the Balasore district Superintendent of Police to present him before the court on 13th February.
The ruling was issued after the bench read the litigant’s response to the notice of contempt proceedings against him. Justice Ravikumar remarked that the contemnor responded by stating, “Sir, I decline to appear in Court because it is a useless notice from you to me. It is a disrespectful act from you to me.”
“Contempt again in reply to notice also … We do not want to read it again”, the bench added. It then proceeded to order, “Despite notice of bailable warrant, the alleged contemnor has made a communication. Issue Non-Bailable Warrant to be executed through District Superintendent of Police, Balasore, Odisha, to ensure contemnor is present in court on 13th February.”
The bench was hearing a suo motu contempt of court action against Upendra Nath Dalai, a public interest litigation (PIL) petitioner who failed to submit fees of Rs 1 lakh to the court.
These fees were levied on him for filing a PIL to declare Satsang founder Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra a ‘paramatma‘. The court had dismissed the petition and imposed a fee of ₹1 lakh for the frivolous petition. The Supreme Court clarified in December 2022 that India is a secular country, and such ‘misconceived’ pleas cannot be lodged through PILs. The court had said that the petitioner cannot be permitted to appeal that the citizens of India may accept Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra as a paramatma (supreme spirit).
The court had said that the petitioner may consider Thakur Anukulchandra a paramatma, but it can’t be enforced on others. In the December 2022 order, Dalai was directed to pay ₹1 lakh cost within 4 weeks, saying that the petition was a “publicity interest litigation”.
However, instead of paying the cost, Upendra Nath Dalai filed a miscellaneous application (MA) to waive the expenses, which was later dismissed by the court. After this, a contempt of court case was registered against him for ‘wilful disobedience’ of court order as he still failed to pay the amount. The Court issued a bailable warrant against Dalai in September 2023, but he has not appeared in court since then.
When the matter came for hearing on 23 January, the court noted that Dalai did not appear before the court despite the bailable warrant in his name. Moreover, he committed further contempt of court byb saying “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. Therefore, the Supreme Court issued a non-bailable warrant against his name this time, and directed the Balasore SP to produce him before the court on the next date of hearing scheduled on 13th February 2024.
