- (1.)IN this petition made under Section 10 of the Contempt of Courts Act read with O. XXXIX, Rules 1 and 2 and Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure the petitioner has prayed for proceeding in contempt against Shri Tadan Lai Malhotra respondent No. 1 for, having committed a wilful disobedience and breach of the undertaking given to this Court on his behalf by his counsel on 23-3-1979.
(2.)THE facts and circumstances leading to this petition may be briefly sketched as under:
The petitioner is a private limited company running a hotel on the Mall Simla under the name and style of Clarkes Hotel. Just opposite to the petitioner's hotel was a vacant plot forming part of the estate known as 'talbot House'. Respondent No. 1 intended to construct a multi-storeyed shop-cum-hotel building on the said vacant plot and for that purpose he submitted a plan to the Municipal Corporation, Simla, respondent No. 2, for sanction. This plan was submitted to respondent No. 2 on 21-6-1977 and respondent No. 2 actually sanctioned the same on 29-6-1977. Respondent No. 1 then started construction in pursuance of the sanction. The petitioner preferred an appeal before the Deputy Commissioner, Simla against the order of sanction of the plan passed by the Municipal Corporation. Ultimately that appeal was accepted by the Additional Deputy Commissioner who remanded the case to the Municipal Corporation with the directions to get the plan modified in terms of the observations made in the remand order. The petitioner, however, continued with the construction in spite of the order of the Additional Deputy Commissioner and none of the authorities including the Municipal Corporation took any steps to stop the construction. The petitioner apprehended that in case such construction was permitted to be carried out, serious damage was likely to be caused to its property, that is, the building of the Clarkes Hotel. The petitioner-plaintiff accordingly filed a suit in this Court which was registered as Civil Suit No. 28 of 1978 wherein inter alia the following relief was claimed: Defendant No. 1 be restrained from making any construction of a four-storeyed building, shop-cumhotel at Talbot House, The Mall, Simla, opposite to the plaintiff's building and defendant No. 2 directed to perform its statutory duties for stopping further construction and demolishing the illegal construction and enforcing the bye-laws and the Municipal Act. Defendant No. 1 was the present respondent No. 1, Shri Madan Lai Malhotra and defendant No. 2 was the Municipal Corporation, Simla.

(3.)ALONG with the suit the plaintiff filed an application under O. XXXIX, Rules 1 and 2 read with Section 151 of the Civil P. C. which was registered as O. M. P. No. B8 of 1978 praying for issue of an ad interim injunction restraining respondent No. 1 from making any construction or completing further construction on the aforesaid plot either himself or- through his contractors or labourers or helpers and for issue of directions to this respondent to maintain status quo.
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