The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Mancherial District Collector to personally appear before it in connection with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition related to alleged encroachments of government lands and availing of bank loans with fictitious land documents in that district.
A Division Bench of the High Court comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K. Vijaya Laxmi passed the order as the Collector failed to comply with its earlier direction to file a report on the matter by March 20. The Bench posted the matter to April 3.
The PIL was filed by a social activist from Mancherial, Induri Rammohan, on February 20. He charged that some persons in collusion with some government officials had encroached upon hundreds of acres of government land in Nennel mandal of Mancherial district.
He stated that some persons even availed loans from three banks by presenting fake documents related to the government land. After hearing the petition, the Division Bench instructed the Collector to inquire into the charges and file a report by March 20.
The Public Prosecutor presented to the High Court that the Collector required some more time to file the report.
Expressing concern over not complying with its earlier direction, the Division Bench directed that the Collector appear before the High Court on April 3 to explain about the alleged encroachment of lands.
The Bench sought to know why contempt of court proceedings cannot be initiated against the Collector since the earlier order to present a report was not complied with.
