LI Network
Published on: 31 July 2023 at 18:09 IST
The Supreme Court has granted an interim stay on the recent Delhi High Court’s order that sentenced Veer Singh, the son of Analjit Singh, founder, and chairperson of the Max Group, to three months of simple imprisonment for contempt of court.
The apex court bench, comprising Justices BR Gavai, CT Ravikumar, and PV Sanjay Kumar, admitted Veer Singh’s appeal and directed a stay on the imprisonment sentence and the look-out circular issued against him.
The appeal before the Supreme Court challenged the Delhi High Court’s decision passed earlier this month, where Veer Singh was found guilty of contempt of court and handed a three-month simple imprisonment term.
The High Court’s division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna had additionally ordered the local Station House Officer (SHO) to issue arrest warrants against Singh and obtain a Look Out Circular (LOC) for him.
Represented by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, Veer Singh sought exemption from surrendering before the authorities in an interim application filed before the Supreme Court.
The contempt proceedings were initiated by Kinri Dhir, who claims to be Singh’s wife (Singh denies marrying her), for his alleged violation of court orders. Dhir asserted that on June 1, 2023, Singh had given an undertaking to the High Court that he would continue to pay maintenance to her, and that the maintenance for May would be transferred within 24 hours.
However, Singh failed to comply with this undertaking, as acknowledged by his counsel.
During the proceedings, when the High Court had directed Singh to be physically present on the next hearing date, his counsel informed the court that Singh was not in India and thus, could not appear in court.
Observing Singh’s non-compliance and unwillingness to purge the contempt, the High Court sentenced him to three months of simple imprisonment, leading to his appeal before the Supreme Court.
In the current hearing, Senior Advocate Pinky Anand appeared for Kinri Dhar, representing her interests before the apex court.
With the Supreme Court granting an interim stay on the imprisonment sentence and the look-out circular, the matter will now undergo further examination in the higher court.