The Madras High Court on Wednesday sentenced the chairman of the child welfare committee (CWC) in Chengalpattu to two months simple imprisonment for contempt of court. It also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 on the contemnor and ordered that he must undergo 15 more days of imprisonment if the fine is not paid within two weeks.
Justice M. Duraiswamy passed the order after finding the CWC chairman R.N. Manikandan guilty of wilfully disobeying an interim order passed by the court on June 7 to hand over the custody of five orphan children to the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, who run two homes for destitute children.
The Bench had directed the CWC chairman to produce the five children in court and hand over their custody to the nuns. Yet, the official dodged it for long and handed them over only on November 23. Meanwhile, a contempt of court application was filed against him.
