The Supreme Court on Thursday closed contempt proceedings against Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Manoj Tiwari for breaking the lock of a house sealed by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation in an unauthorised colony in September, ANI reported.
The court had issued Tiwari a contempt notice in September. But on Wednesday, the bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said it did not find any contempt of court on the part of the state BJP president.
However, it criticised Tiwari for taking “the law in his hands”. “We are pained by the machismo and manner of Tiwari,” the bench said. “As an elected representative he should have acted responsibly rather [than] taking law in his own hands.”
It also said that “misplaced political propaganda has no place” and “such practices should be deprecated”, according to PTI. The court left it to the BJP to take action against Tiwari.
On November 13, in his submission, Tiwari claimed that a committee set up by the court to monitor unauthorised constructions was “terrorising” the people of Delhi. He said the committee had exceeded its jurisdiction and conducted its sealing drive in unauthorised colonies that had legal protection.
Tiwari’s lawyer Vikas Singh said a mob of around 1,500 people had gathered at the spot and any untoward incident could have happened if Tiwari had not broken the lock. The bench had then reserved the verdict.
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