SC stays ex-IPS officer's sentence in Dhoni's contempt plea
New Delhi, Feb 5: The Supreme Court on Monday granted an interim stay on the 15-day simple imprisonment given by the Madras High Court to retired IPS officer G Sampath Kumar in a contempt of court case filed by former team India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice on Kumar's plea against the high court order.
The matter has been posted for next hearing on March 8.
The high court on December 15 last year had found Kumar guilty of committing criminal contempt and sentenced him to 15-day simple imprisonment.
In his contempt petition, Dhoni sought to punish Kumar for the remarks made by him against the judiciary in his written statement filed in response to a Rs 100 crore defamation suit.
Dhoni had moved the court in 2014 against the former cop for having named the popular cricketer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting scam.
In its order, the high court had said Kumar has consciously made an attempt to scandalise and to lower the authority of this court and the Supreme Court. It was established that an affidavit or any pleading that was presented by a party before the court was an act of publication.
Kumar, by his specific words, has attacked the judiciary indecently with an intention to scandalise and undermine the dignity and majesty of this court as well as the apex Court, the high court had said.
The high court had said when a general statement was made against it for granting interim order describing the order as an abuse of process of law, it was not a fair comment. Similarly, accusing the Supreme Court that it failed to focus on "Rule of Law" cannot be accepted as a fair expression of grievance of a party to the dispute, the bench added.
The high court had said Kumar was a responsible police officer who had the occasion to investigate a crime.
The freedom of speech and expression cannot be extended to undermine the statutory limits as contained in the Contempt of Courts Act. Since maintenance of dignity of courts was one of the cardinal principles of Rule of Law, any publication or a public speech which results in undermining it cannot be permitted, as held by the SC in several precedents, the high court had said.
The high court had said the Contempt of Courts Act has been enacted to secure public respect and confidence in the judiciary as an institution.
"If persons like Sampath Kumar were allowed to shake the confidence of the public in the impartial administration of justice, it should be treated as an attack on the judiciary.
"In the present case, we are convinced that the statements made by the respondent in the additional written statement is with an intention to scandalise this court, to lower its authority, and to destroy the confidence of people in the administration of justice.
"From the language and the context, this court has no hesitation to hold that the respondent wants to convey a message in the additional written statement that the high court as well as the Supreme Court, while passing orders, either do not follow Rule of Law or pass orders which are nothing but abuse of process of law", the high court had said.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
