Land Acquisition Officer pulled up for compensation to third party

CHENNAI : The HC has pulled up the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) for paying the compensation amount of Rs 25.89 lakh to a third party for the land acquired for construction of an overbridge in Porur and directed the Chennai Collector to hold a detailed enquiry and if it is found that the officer had acted in collusion with the recipient of the amount, file a criminal complaint against him (officer).

Justice V Bharathidasan, who gave the directive while disposing of a writ petition from V Vanitha and two others, also directed the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition, in Alandur, to deposit the entire award amount before the civil court, where civil cases pertaining to the land in dispute are pending, within six weeks.

The Collector shall take appropriate action to recover the amount from one Shenbagaraman, who claimed title over the land in question, forthwith. He may, if necessary, invoke the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act. This exercise shall be completed within eight weeks, the judge added.

Earlier, the judge held that the order passed by the Special Deputy Collector is ex-facie illegal and without jurisdiction as he had no such power to review his own earlier order to deposit the amount to the credit of the suits pending before the lower court. “This creates a suspicion over the conduct of the officer,” the judge added. The piece of land measuring 128 sq. metres, was acquired for construction of an overbridge across Sriperumbudur-Kodambakkam Road and Mount-Poonamallee Road junction at Porur in 2009.

While the petitioner claimed ownership over the property, her relatives sold it to Shenbagaraman through a power-of-attorney. The matter went to the civil court and the acquisition officer decided to deposit the compensation to the credit of the suit pending before the civil court. However, after six years, the officer reviewed his earlier order and paid the amount to Shenbagaraman.