Contempt Petition Dismissed: High Court Set Aside Order and Found Compliance.

The petitioner, N.V. Krishnan, filed a Contempt Petition (CP) alleging non-compliance with a previous order of the Tribunal.

During the hearing of this CP on March 2, 2026, the learned Standing Counsel presented a judgment from the Hon'ble High Court in OP(CAT) 35/2026 dated February 24, 2026.

This High Court judgment set aside the Tribunal's previous order dated February 4, 2026, and affirmed that the original order had been fully complied with, directing the dismissal of the Contempt Petition.

1. Whether the Contempt Petition should be closed in light of the Hon'ble High Court's judgment in OP(CAT) 35/2026 dated February 24, 2026.

The Tribunal applied the principle of judicial hierarchy and the binding nature of superior court judgments.

Specifically, it recognized that a judgment from the Hon'ble High Court, which set aside a previous order of the Tribunal and deemed the underlying order as fully complied with, supersedes further proceedings on the Contempt Petition based on that original order.

The Tribunal's analysis was straightforward, directly relying on the High Court's judgment.

Upon being informed by the Standing Counsel that the Hon'ble High Court, in OP(CAT) 35/2026 dated February 24, 2026, had set aside the order dated February 4, 2026 (presumably the order whose alleged violation led to the CP) and declared full compliance, the basis for the contempt proceedings ceased to exist.

The High Court's directive to dismiss the CP effectively rendered the continuation of the Contempt Petition before the Tribunal unnecessary and legally unsustainable.

The Tribunal, therefore, acknowledged the High Court's ruling and its implications.

The notice, if any, stood discharged.

The Tribunal left open the liberty granted to the petitioner by the judgment of the High Court, and no costs were awarded.