Highest Officer In State Dept Liable For Contempt If Non-Compliance Of Court Order Is Due To Confusion In Admin Machinery: Allahabad HC

Recently, the Allahabad High Court has held that the highest officer in a government department will be liable for contempt proceedings against him/ her is a writ court order is not complied with due to confusion in administrative machinery. Holding that Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh will be liable for contempt in cases relating to the Land Acquisition Act 1984 as well as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, Justice Salil Kumar Rai held “The distribution of work between the different departments of the State Government cannot be used as a pretext to not implement the order of this Court. It is the duty of the State Government to ensure full compliance of the order passed by this Court. In case of any non-compliance because of any confusion in the administrative machinery of the State Government regarding the department or officer who is responsible to ensure compliance would make the highest officer of the State responsible and liable in contempt.” Petitioner/ applicant's land was acquired in 1977. The award for compensation was passed in 1982 and 1984. However, no compensation was paid and petitioner claimed to be in possession of the land. After the commencement of the 2013 Act, the compensation was deposited in the Government Treasury but the petitioner refused to accept the same. Relying on the decision of the Apex Court in Pune Municipal Corporation And Another Vs. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki And Others, the petitioner argued that since the acquisition proceedings had lapsed in terms of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, the petitioner had represented before the Authority to release the plots to the petitioner, however, no action was taken. Accordingly, petitioner filed a writ petition. The Writ Court held the acquisition proceedings to have lapsed since the deposit made was not proper. Since the plots were not reverted back to the petitioner despite the order of the Writ Court, it filed a contempt application wherein time was granted to the officers to comply. Since no compliance was made, petitioner preferred a second contempt application. The land was initially acquired by the Irrigation Department but was later transferred to the department of Urban Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. Accordingly, the principal Sectary of the Department was impleaded in the contempt application. Despite giving assurance to the Court, the order was not complied with. Instead, the authorities took shelter of subsequent decision of Indore Development Authority Vs. Manoharlal and Others, where it was held that acquisition proceedings will not lapse on non-deposit of compensation or its deposit in treasury. Holding that the State authorities had wilfully disobeyed the order of the Court, Justice Rai observed that “when Manoharlal overruled Pune Municipal Corporation and all other judgements which followed it, Manoharlal only overruled the precedential value of Pune Municipal Corporation and did not reopen the lis between the parties. However, where the lis was still pending and had not reached finality, cases would be decided on the basis of Manoharlal.” The Court held that the order of writ Court had attained finality after dismissal of the SLP by Supreme Court and since no review/ recall applications were filed by the authorities. Regarding the actions of the authorities, the Court observed that “Evidently, the non-compliance by the opposite parties of the order passed by this Court is not bona-fide. The non-compliance is intentional, conscious, calculated and a deliberate act with full knowledge of the consequences. It is apparent that non-compliance was a calculated measure with an intention to deprive the petitioner/applicant the fruits of his success in litigation against the State.” Observing that all tricks have been employed by the State- respondents to prevent implementation of the order of the Writ Court, the Court held that case for wilful disobedience was made out. Noting that the highest authority in land acquisition matters was the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Court refrained from charging him and gave him one month further time to comply with the order of the writ Court, or be present before the Court on the next date for framing of charges on the next date. The case is next listed on 05.01.2026. Case Title: Vinay Kumar Singh Versus Suresh Chandra Princ.secy.irrigation Deptt.and 4 Ors. [CONTEMPT APPLICATION (CIVIL) No. - 2555 of 2017]Click Here To Read Order

Highest Officer In State Dept Liable For Contempt If Non-Compliance Of Court Order Is Due To Confusion In Admin Machinery: Allahabad HC

Upasna Agrawal

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