Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and KV Viswanathan decided to issue the summons after finding certain comments in Kumar’s affidavit to be prima facie contemptuous.
NEW DELHI: On Wednesday(28th Aug), the Supreme Court summoned Rajesh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra’s Revenue and Forest Department, to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him in the case concerning the construction of multi-storeyed buildings on forest land in Maharashtra.
Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and KV Viswanathan decided to issue the summons after finding certain comments in Kumar’s affidavit to be prima facie contemptuous.
“We find these comments prima facie contemptuous. The Additional Chief Secretary is directed to appear before this court on September 9 to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated,”
the Court stated.
The case pertains to the State’s compliance with an earlier order regarding the payment of compensatory afforestation levy connected to the denotification of forest land at Pashan, Pune.
On August 7, the Supreme Court criticized Maharashtra’s recent budget, which included various sops totaling Rs 96,000 crores ahead of the State Assembly elections. This includes the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which proposes Rs 1,500 monthly payments to eligible women aged 21-65.
The Court warned on August 14 that if the State did not pay the required compensation, it would stay schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana. It reiterated that if compensation was not settled by August 28, it might summon the Chief Secretary and stop the recently announced sops.
“Do you want us to stop the Ladki Behn scheme today? Your lack of seriousness gives the impression that you are taking the court for granted. Even the affidavit was inadequate,”
the Court remarked.
During the latest hearing, the Court expressed frustration with the Maharashtra counsel’s inability to provide clear compensation rates and criticized the government’s lack of seriousness.
“You’re behaving merely as a messenger. You can write anything, your officer can sign anything, and we are expected to take no action.”
Justice Gavai expressed asked
The Court accused the State of using “dilly-dallying tactics” and warned that it might halt the Ladki Bahin Yojana immediately.
READ ALSO: PIL Filed Against Maharashtra’s ‘Ladki Bahin’ Scheme| HC Denies Urgent Hearing
Justice Gavai to State Counsel
“You are not taking this matter seriously. It seems you haven’t read the order and the affidavit. The Court has issued a show cause notice to Maharashtra Additional Secretary Rajesh Kumar.”
“As a lawyer, you seem to be following their lead. If necessary, we can arrange for the Commissioner of Police to bring the Additional Secretary in by special flight. We need to consider the public interest. On the next date, Mr. Mehta, let us know whether you are more interested in the land or the compensation, and we will address it then.”
the bench stated
Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta, representing the landowners, was allowed to inspect the site to decide if monetary compensation was preferable. The Court instructed the district collector to facilitate this inspection and adjourned the case for two weeks.
When Mehta pointed out that a sentence in the affidavit was “in poor taste,” the state’s counsel attempted to retract the statement. However, the Court remained resolute, stating:
“It is the State’s duty to adhere to the law and arrive at a proper conclusion. A senior officer should not make statements implying the court is uninformed.”
Consequently, the Court issued a contempt notice to the Additional Chief Secretary.
Case Title: In Re: Construction Of Multi Storeyed Buildings In Forest Land Maharashtra
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