The Madras High Court has summoned Chennai Collector V. Anbu Selvan in a contempt of court application filed against him for not having paid compensation till date to the owner of 487 square feet of private land acquired for alignment of Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) at Mylapore in 1986 and taken possession of in 1993.
Justice N. Kirubakaran directed the Collector to be present in the court on March 5. “Having lost the property, the petitioner is unable to enjoy the fruits of the award for the past 30 years… Even after passing of order by this Court, in spite of notice and reminder, the respondent has not bothered either to give reply to the notice or comply with the order of this Court.
“Prima facie there is a violation of the court’s order. The government authorities are not sensitive to the court orders and this case is a classic example as to how judicial orders are ignored and not complied with,” the judge lamented and directed the High Court Registry to issue statutory notice which requires the contemnor to be present in court.
The judge pointed out that in 1986, the then Collector had issued a notification acquiring the property of T.N. Ramasamy of Kilpauk. In 1989, the value of the land was fixed at ₹2.33 lakh. In 1993, the government took possession of the property and in 1994 the quantum of the compensation was increased marginally.
However, the owner sought to take legal recourse for enhancement of compensation and the High Court on July 31, 2017 determined the compensation at ₹35.44 lakh. Further, since the owner had not been made to see the colour of the coin for more than three decades, the court also imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh to be paid by the Collector to the land owner.
The order was not complied with and hence the present contempt application.
