Costs imposed on Deputy Collector of Tiruvallur

A division bench comprising Justice M Venugopal and Justice S Vaidyanathan, said, “It is very unfortunate that when the matter is posted by this court for reporting compliance, the respondents are sleeping over the matter.”

The matter pertains to the petitioner Selvi, who had sought a patta. She, along with the villagers, had given a representation on May 17, 2013, before the Tiruvallur Collector. But, since no action was taken, another plea was sent on September 16, 2015. This time, an assurance was given to them that the patta will be issued soon. However, since no patta was issued, the petitioner moved the court.

The bench on March 20,  directed the Collector to look into the representation and pass orders on or before June 8, 2018. However, with nothing happening, the petitioner moved the court again. Passing interim orders on this the bench said, “In order to make them to wake up from the slumber, a sum of Rs 25,000 is imposed as ‘costs’ on the person, who is responsible for not complying with the order dated March 20.”

“The deputy collector shall ensure that the said amount is paid to the parents of the recent sexual assault victim of Ayanavaram  within a period of one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order,” the bench added. The case has been posted for ‘reporting compliance’ to August 17.