Observing that the tendency of the government to hide behind the court to cover its slow-paced action can hardly be appreciated, the Madras High Court imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the State for filing an appeal after a delay of over a year and a half in a land acquisition case.
Chennai:
Justice N Seshsayee, on taking strong exception to the government reaction on a contempt petition by moving a plea seeking to condone the delay of 581 days in preferring a review application, said: “As always happens, and generally stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the customary administrative delay is mentioned as the reason for filing the application belatedly.”
“This court ought to remind the State that in all matters involving the acquisition of lands, the government is actually handling the finances of the State,” the judge said.
Pointing out that the administrative delay has created a potential possibility of the government paying additional interest at enhanced rate, the judge said: “However, since public finance is involved, this court chooses to condone the delay, but on payment of the cost of Rs 10,000. The said sum is directed to be recovered from the salaries of the official respondents for the delay.”
In this case, the court has passed an order dismissing a writ petition on December 19, 2017, with a direction to pass an award within eight weeks. Subsequently, the petitioner filed the present contempt petition and on September 14, 2018, the government advocate appearing for the State made a statement that the orders would be complied within two weeks.
But, during the subsequent hearing of the contempt petition on January 8, 2021, the State along with the contempt petition moved a plea to condone the delay as it wanted the earlier order reviewed.
‘TNSCB failed to protect land granted by govt’
The Madras High Court slammed Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) officials for failing to keep a tab over the lands allotted by the government for clearing slums and instead forcing the poor living on such lands to pay guideline value to buy the plots.
Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana was passing orders on a batch of petitions relating to allotment of housing plots in Tirumullaivoyal village, where the petitioners (slum dwellers) were denied housing plots despite having proof of living in the area for the past three decades because they were not in the eligible list created after enumeration. It was also pointed out that a 2016 resolution held that whoever claims to live in vacant plots should, after verification, pay the guideline value to own it.
However, the judge pointed out that TNSCB should have the responsibility over the lands allotted by the government, and said any unauthorised occupation or trespass should be nipped in the bud. “On the contrary, the officials have been allowing the persons to squat over the land and ending up in frivolous litigation,” she said.
Noting that the sequence of events made it amply clear that TNSCB has introduced the new clause of demanding the guideline value only to deny the rights of the persons as that of the petitioners, the judge ruled in their favour, holding that they were eligible for allotment on a notional value fixed by the TNSCB as has been done in the case of others.
“At this juncture, it is to be stated that the persons who have been living for around 30 years have been displaced or forced to pay the guideline value, though the government contemplates a place of its own there. The procedure adopted by the Board officials and the delay on their part result only in a slip between the cup and the lip for the petitioners,” she added.
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