Rajasthan High Court Impleads Then Jodhpur Collector, SDO, Tehsildar In Encroachment Case; Warns Of Jail Sentence If Orders Aren't Followed

In a contempt matter concerning encroachment of land, the Jodhpur bench of the Rajasthan High Court directed the petitioner to implead the then concerned Collector, Sub-divisional Officer and Tehsildar to seek their stand, warning them of punishment including "jail sentence" if they don't pay heed to court orders.

The division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Munnuri Laxman was hearing a contempt petition filed by the petitioner alleging wilful disobedience of the order passed by the Court on February 7, 2022 by the District Collector, Jodhpur who also happened to be the Chairman of Public Land Protection Cell, Jodhpur constituted by the Court in its order dated January 30, 2019.

It was the case of the petitioner that the Public Land Protection Cell was constituted to decide all cases of encroachments, irrespective of whether the land was situated in the Panchayat Area or Municipal Area. In relation to this, vide its order dated February 7, 2022, the Court had directed that representation filed by the Petitioner in front of the Collector shall be decided within three months.

However, when the representation was filed by the Petitioner, it was not processed for a long time and was decided only on May 24 this year i.e. after more than two years. Furthermore, the reply did not show why such delay occurred in non-compliance with the order of the Court.

After perusing the records, the Court opined that it appeared that after passing of the concerned order of the Court, nobody looked into the matter to examine whether the action was required to be taken by the Public Land Protection Cell, Jodhpur or by the local body.

"It appears that after the order of the High Court was passed, nobody looked into the matter to examine whether the action was required to be taken by the Public Land Protection Cell, Jodhpur or by the local body," the bench said.

It was only after the contempt petition was filed in 2023 that the authorities "swung into action for the first time to examine" the matter, it added.

The Court further highlighted that,

“This Court finds that where contempt petitions are filed, before the contempt petitions are decided, the authorities who are in-charge of the office and are obliged to comply with the Court's order, are transferred and new officers come in their place. In this manner, not only the contempt petitions remain pending, but also the order of the Court is not complied with.”

In this background, the Court directed to implead the concerned Collector, Sub-Divisional Officer and Tehsildar, who were in the office on the date when the 2022 court order was passed so that notices could be issued to them.

"The petitioner is directed to implead the concerned Collector, Sub-Divisional Officer and Tehsildar, who were in the office on the date when the order was passed, so that notices can be issued to them and if it is found that they did not pay heed to the order of this Court, appropriate punishment order could be passed including jail sentence," it underscored.

Accordingly, the matter was decided to be listed after four weeks.

Case Title: Mahesh Kumar Pal v Mr. T. Ravikanth & Ors.

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