COIMBATORE: Following a prolonged delay by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in releasing court-ordered compensation for land acquired from a family, the court staff initiated distraint proceedings on Wednesday to attach movable property at the Coimbatore District Collector's office.

However, after assurances from concerned authorities that the due amount of Rs 1.83 crore would be settled by 26 August for the distressed family, the staff refrained from proceeding with further action.

According to officials, the TNHB acquired 17 acres of land owned by Ramasamy from Ganapathy's ‘Maanagar’ area in Coimbatore in 1989. During the process of acquisition, the department released only a partial amount as compensation to the land owner.

After a long wait, his legal heirs, Sundararajan, Manikkam and Kannappan, moved the District Additional Sessions Court II, praying for a direction to TNHB to disperse the remaining compensation amount.

Following a trial, Judge S Dhanalakshmi directed TNHB to pay a compensation of Rs 61 lakhs to each of the three legal heirs. As there was a continuous delay, an execution petition was filed by the petitioners.

The judge therefore issued an order to seize movable properties in the Coimbatore district collector's office, the District Revenue Office, and the Treasury departments. Following this, a team of court staff turned up at the collector's office to execute the seizure order.

On being informed, the TNHB authorities arrived and assured that they would settle the compensation amount by August 26.

In this regard, the authorities also appeared in court and gave a declaration, following which the staff were restrained from taking any action