IAS officer tenders apology in HC

Jabalpur, Apr 28 (UNI) Senior IAS officer Dr A M Asthana has tendered unconditional apology in the Madhya Pradesh High Court yesterday in a contempt case for delay in implementing court directive to fix milk's retail price in Jabalpur district.

Dr Asthana filed an affidavit along with the apology before the division bench of Chief Justice Anang Kumar Patnaik and Mr Justice Krishna Kumar Lahoti, which had earlier issued the notice on April 9 on a contempt case filed by Nagarik Upbhokta Margdarshak Manch.

Concerned over frequent hike in milk prices effected by dairy owners, the Manch filed a petition in the High Court, which issued a directive on January 17 to fix retail price of milk within two months under the Essential Commodities Act. Since the state government failed to implement the court directive in two months, the contempt case was filed.

However, the district administration issued an order on April 13 fixing the retail price at Rs 18 per litre.

UNI