A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday expressed its displeasure over the failure of the government to comply with its directives to initiate proceedings against the assets and property of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) and its State secretary A. Abdul Sathar to recover ₹5.2 crore towards the damage caused during a flash strike held by it on September 23. Terming the attitude of the government as ‘callous’ and ‘per se disrespectful to’ the directions of the court, the Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Home, to be personally present on December 23 with an affidavit detailing the time frame for completing the recovery proceedings against the PFI State leader. When the contempt of court case against the outlawed organisation and its State secretary came up for hearing on November 8, the State government assured the court that the recovery action would be proceeded and be taken to fruition within a month. The court observed that nothing substantial has been done by the State government towards complying with the directives of the courts including the one to provide office space to the Claims Commissioner. The government sought more time to implement the directives and submitted that it was “unfeasible” to complete the recovery procedure within a short period of one month. The government also told the court that it was unable to provide assistance to the Claims Commissioner at the collectorates due to insufficiency of staff and lack of office space. The Bench observed that State government could not adopt such a callous attitude when it was called upon to implement the directions of the court, especially in matters of public interest and involving the destruction of public property. The court also made it clear that under no circumstances would the time granted for compliance with the its directions be extended beyond January 31, 2023.
