HYDERABAD: A bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S Nanda, on Tuesday, ordered the Hyderabad district Collector, along with the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition (GHMC), and the GHMC Commissioner, to appear before it on August 3 in response to a contempt case filed by Mahesh Mohan Lal and five others.
The case stems from allegations of wilful disobedience of court orders issued on July 13, 2022, in a writ appeal regarding compensation claims for 44,359 sq yd in Bapunagar, SR Nagar, Hyderabad acquired under the Slum Improvement (Acquisition of Lands) Act. The respondents claimed that the land was acquired without adequate compensation.
On January 6, 2004, a single judge allowed the writ petition and directed the MCH Commissioner and the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition, to ensure payment of compensation within two months. The court specified that the determined compensation would accrue interest at a rate of 4% per annum from the date of land vesting, (April 21, 1998), for one year. Further interest would be charged at a rate of 15% per annum until the date of payment. The Hyderabad Collector was instructed to arrange the necessary funds for the compensation.
The authorities filed a writ appeal, which was dismissed by the division bench on July 13, 2022. The appellants were given four weeks to comply with the single judge’s directions.