Delhi HC penalises contemnors to give footballs, goal posts to school

In an off-centre penalty to alleged contemnors for delay in filing replies in pending cases, the Delhi High Court has asked them to put up football goal posts in a government school here and donate 40 footballs to the students, including girls.

Justice Najmi Waziri, who has been passing orders in favour of social cause, has also directed the Deputy Director (South) of Delhi government's Directorate of Education and the principal of Chandra Shekhar Azad Government School in New Friends Colony to ensure that the football field is properly prepared and duly marked for the game.

The court also said in a recent order that to obviate any injury to the students, it should be ensured that no stones or pebbles are littered in the field.

While hearing two separate contempt cases, the court imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 each on the alleged contemnors for their delay in filing replies to the contempt petitions.

It granted them one more opportunity to file replies subject to payments of costs, which may be defrayed towards a social cause and be expended towards public purposes including for the benefit of school going children.

Delhi government additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose assured the court that due compliance of the order would be done.

Recently, in another contempt case, Justice Waziri had directed a major Indian restaurant chain to use the Rs 20 lakh cost, imposed on it for violating the trademark of French luxury fashion goods manufacturer Hermes, to provide mid-day meals and sanitary napkins at several orphanages and foster care homes in the national capital.

The court directed that mid-day meals would be provided at 5 orphanages and 10 foster care homes for the next two years and the sanitary napkins would also be supplied there for one year.

In the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam case, the same judge had directed some of the individuals and companies to plant over 16,000 trees here for their failure in filing the responses on time.

In the present case, the court directed one of the alleged contemnors to put up two football goal posts with nets at Chandra Shekhar Azad Government School here for the benefit of the children studying there within four weeks.

Another alleged contemnor was asked to purchase 40 footballs of good quality for the benefit of the children studying in the school.

"Twenty footballs each shall be for the girls and boys, studying in the morning and evening shifts of the aforesaid school," it said.