The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Madras High Court order sentencing former DRDO chief V K Saraswat and another senior scientist to three weeks in jail in a contempt case. The duo had been held guilty of contempt of court after they disobeyed an April 2009 order relating to re-employment of a clerk in a school run by a wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). A bench led by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya issued the order after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi pressed for an urgent directive to put on hold the HC’s judgment. The bench also issued notices on the Centre’s appeal against the HC order. Saraswat, a Padma Bhushan awardee and former Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, and G Malakondaiah, Director of Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, were sentenced to three weeks’ simple imprisonment and were directed to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 each personally by a judgment a day ago. The HC had passed the order on a petition by S Joseph Raj, who was an employee of the school run by the DRDO.
