Chandigarh, May 21 -- The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a contempt petition filed by Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and imposed a penalty of Rs 6 lakh on him for what the court termed misuse of judicial process in a dispute linked to alleged encroachment on panchayat land.
Hearing the matter, Justice Sudeepti Sharma observed that contempt jurisdiction could not be invoked to settle disputes related to the removal of alleged encroachments from public land. The petition filed by Khaira alleged deliberate violation of directions issued by the Supreme Court in matters concerning the demolition of structures.
Khaira had claimed that a portion of his ancestral property, including a wall and gate, was demolished without prior no...