Contempt of court: Medak DC Rahul Raj sentenced to 6 months in jail; has 4 weeks to appeal

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court has sentenced Medak District Collector Rahul Raj to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 for willful disobedience of its earlier orders in a property rights case.

However, the court suspended the sentence for four weeks to enable him to file an appeal.

Court pulls up Collector for Non-Compliance

Justice K. Lakshman passed the order while hearing a contempt petition filed by Nallavelli Lakshmi, a resident of Bonal village in Chegunta mandal of Medak district.

The petition alleged that the Collector had failed to implement the High Court’s earlier directions concerning mutation and issuance of a pattadar passbook for 2.22 acres of land in Survey No. 284/A/2.

Earlier, in August 2022, the High Court had directed authorities to examine Lakshmi’s application and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.

Dispute over ‘Sada Bainama’ sale

According to the case details, the Tahsildar and an Assistant Surveyor had reported that Lakshmi’s grandfather had previously sold the land through a ‘sada bainama’ (unregistered sale agreement) to three individuals, Gangaiah, Narayana, and Mallaiah.

Based solely on these reports, the Collector rejected Lakshmi’s application.

Lakshmi once again approached the High Court, which directed the Collector to issue notices to both parties, obtain relevant documents, including the ‘sada bainama’ and any regularisation proceedings from the purchasers, and then pass a reasoned order.

The court had clearly stated that rejecting the application solely on the basis of departmental reports was not legally sustainable.

Notices not served, says Court

During the contempt proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the Collector rejected the application without issuing notices to both parties, in violation of the court’s explicit instructions.

The Government Pleader submitted records claiming that notices had been issued. However, Justice Lakshman observed that there was no documentary proof to substantiate the claim.

When the Government Pleader stated that notices were sent via WhatsApp, the court noted that this was not mentioned in the counter affidavit filed before it.

“Wilful Disobedience”

Holding that the Collector had wilfully disobeyed the High Court’s directions, Justice Lakshman convicted him for contempt of court and awarded six months’ simple imprisonment along with a Rs 2,000 fine.

At the same time, the court stayed the execution of the sentence for four weeks, granting the Collector time to challenge the order in appeal.