The Madras High Court on Friday came down heavily on Namakkal Collector M. Asia Mariam for not having evicted encroachers from a public land despite a specific direction issued by the court and instead having passed an order deciding to regularise the encroachments in accordance with a government order.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Venugopal and S. Vaidyanathan said: “This court is really shocked to observe as to how such an order can be passed by the District Collector, despite issuance of specific direction to the respondents for removal of encroachments by this Court and the act of the 1st respondent / District Collector is highly condemnable.”
“She must be taught about court proceedings as she is smart enough to act as an appellate authority of this court. Moreover, this contempt petition has been mainly filed pursuant to an utterly and palpable incorrect statement made before this court on March 1 by A.N. Thambidurai, learned Special Government Pleader, who appeared for the respondents on that date,” the Bench added.
‘True in letter and spirit’
“Similarly, the proceedings of the Collector are nothing but not obeying the orders of this court in true letter and spirit,” the Bench said.
The judges were highly disturbed over a specific line in the Collector’s order where she had said: “It is ordered that at present there is no necessity to remove the encroachments since it had been decided to regularise them.”
However, after a Government counsel informed the court that he would instruct the Collector to withdraw her order and file an affidavit to that effect in the court, the judges adjourned the hearing on the contempt of court petition to March 4.
They adjourned the hearing with a rider that the Collector should be present in court on that day if her order was not withdrawn by then.
