‘Give kural books for not honouring order’

Justice S Vaidyanathan said, “In order to give him an opportunity to correct himself, this court, instead of directing him to pay costs, directs him to buy and distribute the book ‘Thirukural’ to fifty students from two schools in his area, within a month.” 

The judge who had initially punished the accused to pay Rs 2,500 and awarded him two days of imprisonment also held that “If no punishment is imposed, it would give a wrong signal to the public that any person can take the court for a ride.” 

The matter relates to the accused D Muthu @ Nelson Muthu suppressing the fact of moving two anticipatory bail petitions in a murder case. Only after obtaining anticipatory bail in the second petition did the accused choose to withdraw the first petition. When these facts came to light, the de-facto complainant had initiated contempt proceedings stating that the accused played fraud upon the court.