SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the conduct of Medak District Collector Rahul Raj for failing to comply with its earlier directions in a property rights dispute.
Holding that the Collector had willfully disobeyed court orders, the court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000.
The case pertains to a dispute over 2.22 acres of land in Survey No. 284/A/2 in Bonal village of Chegunta mandal, Medak district. Petitioner Nallavelli Lakshmi had approached the High Court after her application seeking mutation of her grandfather’s land and issuance of a pattadar passbook was not acted upon by the authorities.
HC orders from August 2022
In August 2022, the Telangana High Court directed the authorities to examine the matter and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.
Subsequently, the Collector rejected Lakshmi’s application based on reports submitted by the Tahsildar and Revenue Inspector, which stated that her grandfather, Ooshayya, had earlier sold the land to three individuals — Gangayya, Narayana and Mallaiah — through a “sada bainama” (unregistered sale agreement).
Collector’s rejection challenged in HC
Challenging this rejection, Lakshmi again approached the court. The High Court then directed the Collector to issue notices to both parties, obtain documents relating to the sada bainama and any regularisation proceedings from the alleged purchasers, and pass fresh orders after proper examination.
The court had specifically observed that rejecting the application solely on the basis of the Tahsildar and RI reports was not legally valid.
However, it was contended by the petitioner’s counsel that the Collector once again rejected the application without issuing notices to both parties, thereby violating the court’s directions.
During the hearing, Justice K Lakshman noted that although the Government Pleader claimed notices had been issued to the petitioner, no documentary proof was produced. At this stage, the Government Pleader stated that notices were sent through WhatsApp. The judge observed that this claim was not even mentioned in the counter affidavit.
Collector awarded 6 months imprisonment
Finding that the Collector had deliberately violated the court’s orders, Justice Lakshman convicted Rahul Raj for contempt of court and awarded six months’ imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 2,000.
The court, however, suspended the implementation of the sentence for four weeks to enable the Collector to file an appeal.
SOURCE : SIASAT
