Holding a woman teacher guilty of contempt for repeatedly lying under oath about her marital status, the Delhi High Court directed that she offer prayers at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial, to "repent her sin".
A bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Indermeet Kaur passed the order after refusing to accept the "unconditional apology" from Farah Khatoon, who sought leniency from court saying she was appearing in court for the first time and was not well versed with law.
In the order, the bench asked the woman to spend at least four hours each day of the week at Rajghat from December 21. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 2,000 on her, to be deposited with the "Mahatma Gandhi Trust" within a week.
"We cannot believe that the lady, who is employed as a teacher in an MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) school, is not aware of the fact that she has to be truthful before the court of law even though unrepresented by a lawyer, or under social pressure."
"Her entire conduct is contumacious, as in the face of the court, she kept telling lies after lies. And also, she had the audacity to take a false stand when her statement was recorded in court on oath. Her conduct is unpardonable," the court said.
"The area police station shall monitor that she sits there and offers prayers in silence to feel remorseful about her conduct," the court further said.
The court's order came after her husband Rakesh filed a petition saying that they got married on April 9, 2012 and sought her production before the court, contending that her father had illegally detained her in their house as she had married outside her faith.
