MP High Court Warns Against Contempt Over Road Repair Before Testing

• The Madhya Pradesh High Court's Gwalior bench has warned against manipulating the process of quality testing after discovering that the Gwalior Municipal Corporation had secretly repaired a road before sampling.
• The court has recalled its shortlist of roads for quality testing and given the commission full liberty to pick sampling sites without any suggestion from either side.
• Anyone found interfering with the judicial process will face contempt, as per the court's warning.

Calling this 'very objectionable' conduct, the court recalled its concession deferring sampling by a day and restored the original date.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court's Gwalior bench has taken a strong stance against the Gwalior Municipal Corporation after discovering that they had secretly repaired a road two days before a court-appointed commission was to collect samples from it. The road, part of a shortlist of eight roads selected for quality testing, had been identified as one of the worst in the city due to its poor condition. Petitioner's counsel Abdhesh Singh Tomar presented photographs and videos showing the repair work being done on Road No. 7, which was scheduled for sampling. The Commissioner, Sangh Priya, admitted to having filmed the work himself and had even sent WhatsApp messages instructing an engineer to fill potholes and make the road motorable just minutes after a video about its poor condition surfaced on Instagram.

The court's decision is part of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Kailash Chand Agrawal, who alleged that several roads in Gwalior were badly constructed and had deteriorated soon after being laid. To verify these allegations, the court constituted a three-member commission to collect core samples from selected roads and get them tested. The bench approved a shortlist of eight roads, including Road No. 7, for quality testing and added the Senior Superintendent of Police, Gwalior, to the commission to maintain law and order during sampling. However, matters took a dramatic turn when a private testing lab withdrew from the exercise under pressure from unknown persons.

The court's warning against manipulating the process of quality testing is a significant development in the ongoing PIL case. The bench has made it clear that anyone found interfering with the judicial process will face contempt. This highlights the importance of complying with court orders and avoiding any actions that could be seen as undermining the integrity of the legal system. The incident also raises questions about the management of city affairs, with the court observing that the Corporation's delay in addressing the road's poor condition was 'very objectionable'.

Lawyers and compliance officers should be aware that the MP High Court has warned against manipulating the process of court-mandated quality testing, and anyone found doing so may face contempt. This highlights the importance of complying with court orders and avoiding any actions that could be seen as interfering with the judicial process.

Source: Original reporting via The Indian Express