metro india news  I NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday said disobedience of court orders attacks the foundation of the rule of law which is the basis of our democracy and ordered demotion of an official in Andhra Pradesh for disobeying a high court direction.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih directed Andhra Pradesh government to revert the deputy collector, who as a tehsildar had forcibly removed several hutments in Guntur district in January 2014, to the post of tehsildar.

"We want the message to go throughout the country that nobody would tolerate disobedience of the court orders," Justice Gavai said. Slapping a Rs 1 lakh fine on the officer, the top court stressed on sending out a message to everyone that no one was above the law.

"When a constitutional court or for that matter any court issues any direction, every authority, howsoever high he or she may be, is bound to respect the said order and comply with the same," it said. The bench went on, "A disobedience of the orders passed by the court attacks the very foundation of rule of law on which our democracy is based."

The top court was hearing the official's plea against an order of the high court's division bench which rejected his contempt appeals. The division bench refused to interfere with a single judge's order sentencing him to two months imprisonment for "deliberate and utter disobedience" of the high court's order.

The single judge's order came on the pleas alleging the officer, who was then a tehsildar, forcibly removed shanties in Guntur district in January 2014 despite a December 11, 2013 direction restraining him from doing it. The apex court confirmed the high court's order which convicted the officer in the case. The top court, however, modified the order sentencing him to imprisonment for two months for having committed contempt of the high court order.