A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday adjourned by three weeks the hearing on the contempt of court petition filed by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation against the Vilappil panchayat president and the Janakeeya Samithi office-bearers for violating its directives on the waste treatment plant.
The Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A.M. Saffique had asked the panchayat to file objection, if any, to the contempt petition. The court, while adjourning the hearing on the petition to June 4, said that sufficient time had been given to the panchayat to resolve the issue.
The Corporation counsel sought to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the panchayat president and others as the efforts by the Kerala Mediation and Conciliation Centre to settle the issue came a cropper. The court had ordered police protection for operating the plant and asked the panchayat to open the lock of the gates of the plant and allow entry of vehicles laden with garbage into the plant.
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In the petition, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Secretary T. Bhaskaran alleged that panchayat president Shobhana Kumari along with agitators had organised a protest march and blocked the movement of garbage trucks to the plant. They had taken law into their hands. The actions of the panchayat president amounted to contempt of court.