The Supreme Court Friday rebuffed an attempt to espouse the cause of suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal and dismissed a PIL seeking her reinstatement by a judicial order. Nagpal was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia in Noida and Greater Noida. The UP Chief Minister however maintained she was suspended for arbitrarily ordering the demolition of the wall of an under-construction mosque. Refusing to entertain the PIL by a Delhi lawyer,a Bench led by Justice H L Dattu noted that Nagpal could take care of herself and that she would resort to all proper administrative and judicial recourse if she so wanted. Advocate M L Sharma,the petitioner,tried to convince the court to intervene by pointing out that Nagpals action of razing down the illegal wall of the mosque was in compliance with previous Supreme Courts order on demolition of encroachments on public land. Sharma said,The court had directed district magistrates and such officers to follow its order and she was doing the same. How can she be suspended for following the court orders? Therefore this court must intervene. The Bench however remained unmoved. It told Sharma that if the suspension order was against the spirit of the court orders and also contemptuous,then Nagpal and not he should question the states action. She can certainly question the state action,saying there was a direction by the Supreme Court which she was following and hence she cannot be suspended. Next,she would say if she would not have acted in the manner she did,she was under contempt of court. If she approaches the court,we may pass some orders, said the court. It added: Why cant she file a petition? If she files it,we would entertain it. You cannot be espousing her cause. Sharma then requested the court to treat his PIL as a contempt of court petition on the ground that officers were being obstructed from following the court orders but the Bench declined to accept his prayer and dismissed the plea. In his PIL,Sharma urged quashing of all proceedings against Nagpal and her immediate reinstatement. Dalit writers arrest: Apex court seeks UP response LUCKNOW: The Supreme Court on Friday sought an explanation from the UP government for arresting Dalit scholar Kamal Bharti for his Facebook post criticising suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal. Bharti was arrested on August 8 and released on the same day. The court issued a notice to the government,seeking their response for arresting Bharti in violation of its order. The court had on May 16 restrained police from arresting anyone for an online post without prior permission from senior officers,not below the rank of DCP.
