India, May 10 -- Disobedience of court orders attacks the foundation of the rule of law which is the basis of our democracy, the Supreme Court said on Friday, as it ordered demotion of a deputy collector in Andhra Pradesh to the post of tehsildar for disobeying a direction of the state's high court.

A bench headed by justice Bhushan R Gavai passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by the official, Tata Mohan Rao, who was sentenced to two-month imprisonment by the high court. The high court's order came on the pleas alleging that Rao, who was then a tehsildar, forcibly removed huts in Guntur district on January 8, 2014 despite a December 11, 2013 direction restraining him from doing it.

The apex court confirmed the high court's ord...