Contempt petition closed after compliance, with liberty to separately challenge the speaking order.

The petitioners instituted Contempt Petition No. 455/2026 alleging non-compliance with the order dated 26 September 2025 passed by the Tribunal in O.A. No. 3776/2025.

During the contempt proceedings, the respondents submitted that they had passed a detailed speaking order dated 25 May 2026 in compliance with the Tribunal’s earlier order and produced the same for the Tribunal’s perusal.

Counsel for the petitioners acknowledged receipt of the speaking order and stated that the petitioners intended to challenge it by filing a fresh Original Application.

Whether the contempt petition should continue after the respondents passed a speaking order purportedly in compliance with the Tribunal’s earlier directions?

Whether the petitioners could challenge the speaking order dated 25 May 2026 through fresh proceedings in accordance with law?

Contempt proceedings are concerned with securing compliance with the court’s directions and ordinarily do not serve as a forum for adjudicating the merits of a subsequent administrative order.

Once the respondents placed a speaking order on record in purported compliance with the earlier order, and the petitioners acknowledged receipt while expressing their intention to challenge that order independently, continuation of the contempt petition was considered unnecessary.

The respondents’ production of the speaking order dated 25 May 2026 addressed the immediate issue of compliance with the Tribunal’s order dated 26 September 2025.

Since the petitioners had received the speaking order and intended to contest its substance through a fresh Original Application, the Tribunal considered that the contempt proceedings were no longer the appropriate vehicle for examining the validity or merits of that order.

Accordingly, keeping the contempt petition pending would serve no fruitful purpose.

However, it expressly granted the petitioners liberty to challenge the speaking order dated 25 May 2026 in accordance with law by instituting appropriate fresh proceedings.