Chennai:
The Madras High Court on Thursday slammed the state government officials, observing they are forgetting that they are "public servants" and acting as "masters of public".
Justice KK Sasidharan, while passing orders on a petition filed by poor land owners, whose lands were acquired for formation of a national highway in Salem and Villupuram Districts, issued notices to Collectors of these districts to show cause why action of suo motu contempt should not be taken against them for their "wilful" disobedience of the orders passed by the High Court.
The First Bench of the High Court had passed an order on December 4, 2012 with a direction to the District Collectors of Villupuram and Salem to consider the applications submitted by the land owners whose lands were acquired for laying National Highway, for determining the compensation.
The Collectors were asked to dispose of the claim petitions within a three months from the date of passing of the order.
As the Collectors have not disposed the claim petitions submitted by the land owners, they have filed another petition praying for appointment of a former Judge of the High Court for arbitration.
When the petition came up for hearing, Justice Sasidharan observed that "a tendency was now among certain officers to keep the time bound orders of the court in cold storage and to
drive the litigants from pillar to post."
"The officials are passing orders on the petitions when they come across the contempt notice and the lenient attitude taken by the courts not to take action are considered as a weakness," the judge said.
He also observed that the wilful violation of the court orders if permitted the litigant would lose faith in the judicial system and posted the matter for the explanation by the collectors to July 27.