1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS (CONTEMPT JURISDICTION) MONDAY, THE 1ST DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2010 THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE P.JYOTHIMANI CONTEMPT PETITION Nos.911, 1220 to 1250 of 2009 ************ 1)Kasturi, 2)Elliah, 3)Gurumurthy, 4)Narayana Murthy, 5)R.Munusamy Naidu, All are residing at No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioners in Cont.P.No.911/2009 K.Thangavelu, No.555, South Bazar Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1220/2009 Sakunthalammal, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1221/2009 1)Mohan, 2)Poosammal, 3)Dhanraj, 4)Murugan, 5)Indirani, All are residing at, No.325, Jagajeevan Ram Street, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1222/2009 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 2 A.Raja, No.453, Rajaji Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1223/2009 K.Lakshmiammal, 2-2-362, Ground Floor, K.V.Layour, Near LIC Office, Tirupathy. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1224/2009 Logammal, 417, Jagajeevan Ram Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1225/2009 1)K.Munirathnam Naidu, 2)Rajamani, 3)Pankajammal, residing at, No.660, Bajanai Koil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1226/2009 1)Barathi, 2)P.Devarajalu, 3)Kousalya, All are residing at, No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1227/2009 1)P.Devarajalu, 2)Barathi, 3)Kousalya, 4)Munusamy Naidu, 5)Kamalammal, All are residing at, No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1228/2009 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 3 K.Radhammal, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1229/2009 1)Pankajammal, 2)Poosammal, No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1230/2009 Nagarajan, Pillaiyar Kovil Street, Thzoour Kuppam, Tirur Post, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1231/2009 K.Poosammal, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1232/2009 1)K.Munirathnam Naidu, 2)K.Subramani, 3)K.Rajendira Prasad, 4)K.Mahandiran, 5)K.Narandiran, 6)M.Vani, 7)Chandiran, (Petitioners 3 to 7 L.R. By K.Venkatesalu Naidu.) All are residing at, No.660, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1233/2009 K.Varalakshmi, W/o.K.Rajendiran, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1234/2009 Subramani, No.53, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1235/2009 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 4 K.Munirathnam Naidu, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1236/2009 1)K.Lakshmiammal, 2)K.Munirathnam Naidu, 3)K.Subramani, 4)K.Rajendira Prasad, 5)K.Mahandiran, 6)K.Narandiran, 7)M.Vani, 8)Chandiran, (Petitioners 4 to 8 L.R. By K.Venkatesalu Naidu). All are residing at, No.660, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1237/2009 B.Pughazhendi, No.168, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1238/2009 Ambujammal, No.168, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1239/2009 Kousalya, No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1240/2009 1)K.Parthasararathi, 2)K.Munusamy Naidu, 3)Sekar, 4)Sankar, Both residing at, No.660, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1241/2009 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 5 1)K.Gopalakrishnan, 2)K.Ramakrishnan, 3)K.Subramani, Both residing at, No.660, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1242/2009 Pankajammal, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1243/2009 R.Munusamy Naidu, No.6/614, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1244/2009 Ramayee, Jagajeevan Ram Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1245/2009 S.Kamalammal, 659, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1246/2009 1)Babu, 2)Kannappa Chetty, 3)Ekambara Chetty, 4)Ramani, 5)Srinivasan, all are residing at, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1247/2009 1)Kousalya, 2)Pankajammal, 3)Sekar, 4)Sankar, 5)Kamalammal, 6)Venkatachalam, 7)Kuppusamy, (Petitioners 5 to 7 L.R. By Deceased Srinivasalu Naidu.) https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 6 All are residing at, No.6/613, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1248/2009 1)Kiruba, 2)Revathi, 3)Paspavathi, 4)B.Gajendiran, 5)B.Sivamani, 6)Shantha, 7)B.Rajendiran, 8)Leelavathi, 9)Puspakantham, 10)Nagajothi, 11)Suganthi, 12)B.Sureshkumar, (Petitioners 3 to 12, L.R. By Deceased Ranjithammal) All are residing at, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1249/2009 K.Munusamy Naidu, No.660, Bajanai Kovil Street, Tirur Kuppam, Tirur Village, Tiruvallur District. ... Petitioner in Cont.P.No.1250/2009 Vs P.Yuvaraj, The Special Tahsildar, (Land Acquisition), Tamil Nadu Housing Board, No.331, Anna Salai, Nandanam, Chennai 35. ... Respondent in all Cont.Petitions Contempt Petitions praying that this Court be pleased to order punishing the respondent for his acts of the non compliance of the order of this Hon'ble Court dated 25.03.2009 and made in W.P.Nos.26310 to 26341 of 2008. The above Contempt Petitions coming on this day before https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 7 this Court for hearing in the presence of Mr.N.Nallappan, Advocate for the petitioners in all Contempt Petitions; and of Mr.N.Senthil Kumar, Additional Government Pleader for the respondent in all Contempt Petitions; and upon reading the petition and affidavit of Kasturi, K.Thangavelu, Sakunthalammal, Mohan, A.Raja, K.Lakshmiammal, Logammal, Rajamani, Barathi, P.Devarajalu, K.Radhammal, Poosammal, Nagarajan, Poosammal, Subramani, K.Varalakshmi, Subramani, K.Munirathnam Naidu, K.Munirathnam Naidu, B.Pughazhendi, Ambujammal, Kousalya, K.Munusamy Naidu, K.Gopalakrishnan, Pankajammal, R.Munusamy Naidu, Ramayee, S.Kamalammal, Babu, Kousalya, B.Suresh Kumar and K.Munusamy Naidu, filed herein; and the counter affidavit of P.N.Raghu Kumar, filed in all Contempt petitions; the Court made the following order:- The District Revenue Officer who has passed an order dated 31.08.2010 pursuant to the order passed by this Court in a batch of writ petitions in W.P.Nos.26310 to 26341 of 2008 dated 25.03.2009 is present before this Court. 2.This Court in a batch of writ petitions in W.P.Nos.26310 to 26341 of 2008 dated 25.03.2009, while disposing of all the writ petitions and taking note of the fact in respect of the compensation regarding the lands acquired on the applications filed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, the amount fixed by the Officer Rs.100/- per cent was increased to Rs.700/- per cent as https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 8 against which the Government has filed an appeal in A.S.No.559 of 2002 in one case and this Court by judgment dated 27.11.2007, has enhanced the compensation at Rs.600/- per cent and directed the Special Tahsildar, Tamil Nadu Housing Board, who was arrayed as respondent in the above writ petitions to pass appropriate orders after conducting the enquiry regarding the re-determination of compensation based on the judgment of this Court in A.S.No.559 of 2002. Since in respect of the said order passed by this Court, the Special Tahsildar has not passed any order and hence, these contempt petitions have been filed. 3.In the counter affidavit filed by the Special Tahsildar in the contempt petitions, the Special Tahsildar has while admitting that the amount of compensation has been fixed by this Court in A.S.No.559 of 2002, in respect of one case at Rs.600/- has however stated that an order for re-determination of compensation has to be ultimately passed under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act by the District Collector. The powers of the District Collector under Section 28-A of the Act has been delegated to the District Revenue Officer and therefore, the papers were referred to the District Revenue Officer for passing appropriate orders. The District Revenue Officer who is present in Court today has passed an order dated 31.08.2010 rejecting the claims of all the petitioners on the ground that the claims have not been substantiated and that there https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 9 has been some bogus cases. The said order also shows that a reference to the file received from the Special Tahsildar, Land Acquisition shows that it contains only the xerox copies of applications made by the land owners and the documents which are substantiated are also xerox copies and there are no original documents available in the record. In those circumstances, the District Revenue Officer has considered that the parties while appearing for enquiry for re-determination of compensation have not substantiated their cases. The District Revenue Officer has also considered that the Special Tahsildar has taken only the statements from various parties to the original applications. Due to the above stated reasons, the District Revenue Officer has rejected the claims of the petitioners. 4.The learned Additional Government Pleader has produced the entire file relating to the enquiry conducted by the Special Tahsidlar Land Acquisition. A reference to the file shows that in fact there is a detailed report given by the Special Tahsildar containing various particulars relating to everyone of the petitioners in respect of the respective applications, the land holdings and fixation of compensation etc. However, the file contains only the xerox copies of the applications made by the petitioners, apart from the original statements recorded from the parties. It was in the circumstance, that the direction given by this Court was to the Special https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 10 Tahsildar to consider the representation of the petitioners dated 18.02.2008 for re-determination of compensation in respect of the lands of the petitioners acquired under the Land Acquisition Act as per 4(1) notification dated 18.12.1982 and also in the light of the directions given by this Court in W.P.No.10997 of 1995 etc., batch on 06.09.2002 taking note of the amount of judgment and decree dated 27.11.2007 and pass appropriate orders in re- determination of compensation. In spite of the above direction when the Special Tahsildar has conducted enquiry and gave a report in details about the various particulars to the District Revenue Officer and the District Revenue Officer without referring the said report of the Special Tahsildar and without considering the above particulars, has rejected all the applications on the ground that the applications received from the petitioners were in xerox forms. This Court has considered that the said order dated 31.08.2010 is not in accordance with the earlier direction issued by this Court. 5.The learned Additional Government Pleader would submit that since in the said order dated 31.08.2010, the contents of the report of the Special Tahsildar has not been explained in detail and hence, the same has not been considered by the District Revenue Officer. However, he would further submit that the order dated 31.08.2010 passed by the District Revenue Officer would be withdrawn and a https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 11 fresh order will be passed after considering the report of the Special Tahsildar and conducting an enquiry which is required to satisfy himself as to whether the persons who made applications are genuine and also getting the original statements, if necessary. In such view of the matter, since the District Revenue Officer has agreed and undertaken to withdraw the earlier order passed by him dated 31.08.2010, I do not think that any useful purpose will be served on initiating proceedings against him. However, the stand taken by the learned Additional Government Pleader that since the applications made by the parties are only xerox copies the doubt about the genuineness of the persons who made applications are certainly deserves to be considered. 6.In such view of the matter, the contempt petitions are closed with the following directions:- (i)The District Revenue Officer is directed to take note of the report of the Special Tahsildar dated 24.11.2008 and pass appropriate orders after calling the parties before him and satisfy himself about the genuineness of the parties and also calling any statements if required in the absence of any original statement available on record. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 12 (ii)While calling the parties and passing orders, the District Revenue Officer shall not reject the claims of the parties only on the ground that the claims have been made beyond the period contemplated under the Land Acquisition Act for the purpose of making applications for re- determination of compensation under Section 28-A of the Act. In case where any of the claimants died during the pendency of this proceedings, the District Revenue Officer shall allow the legal representatives to file applications and to produce the records to substantiate their claims and pass appropriate orders. (iii)The learned Additional Government Pleader would submit that the disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the then Special Tahsildar who functioned earlier on the ground that there was some collusion with the parties and he has been placed under suspension. It is made clear that this order shall not prevent the Government to proceed further against the said officer. (iv)It is made clear that the petitioners and their legal representatives shall co-operate with the District Revenue Officer in the above said enquiry in order to enable him to pass orders expeditiously. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 13 (v)The said exercise shall be completed by the District Revenue Officer within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. (vi)The personal appearance of the District Revenue Officer is dispensed with and he has been discharged from all the obligations. Witness the Hon'ble Thiru M.YUSUF EQBAL, the Chief Justice of High Court at Madras, as aforesaid, this the 1st day of November, 2010. SD/- DEPUTY REGISTRAR (OS) //Certified to be true copy// Dated at Madras this the day of 2010. COURT OFFICER (O.S.) From 25th Day of September 2008 the Registry is issuing certified copies of the orders/judgments/Decrees in this format. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 14 SMV CONTEMPT PETITION Nos.911, 1220 to 1250/2009 THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE P.JYOTHIMANI ORDER DATED : 01/11/2010 FOR APPROVAL :13/12/2010 APPROVED ON :13/12/2010 COPY TO: 1)P.Yuvaraj, The Special Tahsildar, (Land Acquisition), Tamil Nadu Housing Board, No.331, Anna Salai, Nandanam, Chennai 35. 2)The Dist. Revenue Officer, Thiruvallur District. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/