The State government has approached the Kerala High Court for initiating contempt of court proceedings against S. Rajendran, the CPI(M) legislator from Devikulam and four others of Munnar grama panchayat, for constructing a building on the banks of Muthirappuzha river in violation of the court orders.
The petition was moved by Special Government Pleader to the Additional Advocate General M.H. Hanil Kumar.
Madhusoodanan Unnithan, secretary, Munnar grama panchayat; Kuppuswami, president of the panchayat; Vijayakumar, member, district panchayat; and Chikku, the contractor of the panchayat who constructed the building, are the others in the contempt case.
Earlier, Devikulam Subcollector Renu Raj, in a letter to the Advocate General, had pointed out that a stop memo was issued to the secretary of the Munnar grama panchayat regarding the construction of the building. The official was also informed that such constructions needed the no objection certificate (NOC) from the District Collector, she said.
She said the Kerala High Court had earlier ordered that the clearance from the Revenue Department was required for all constructions in the eight villages that were earlier under the jurisdiction of the Munnar Special Tribunal.
Providing details of the steps taken by the Devikulam Subcollector to check the illegal construction, the State submitted that Mr. Rajendran had arrived at the spot of the construction and declared that the NOC of the Revenue Department was necessary for the construction. He declared that the Subcollector's action was without properly understanding the legal aspects, it was submitted.
The State further submitted that the construction work in the area proceeded further at the instigation and support of the legislator and in his presence. Mr. Rajendran had also abused the Subcollector in front of the media and the large number of people gathered in the area, the State submitted.
The action of the legislator, contractor, panchayat president, panchayat secretary and the district panchayat member in instigating and making sure the construction work is not affected is in violation of the Kerala High Court order. The respondents, the State submitted, knowingly undermined the authority of the court and disobeyed its orders, which amounted to the wilful and deliberate contempt of court, the State contended.