HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has sentenced Rangareddy District Collector C Narayana Reddy to six months’ simple imprisonment for wilfully and deliberately disobeying its directions to consider applications seeking deletion of two plots from the list of prohibitory properties maintained under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1908.
Justice K Lakshman allowed a contempt case filed by P Shivaleela and another petitioner, holding that the collector had failed to comply with the court’s order dated August 5, 2025, within the stipulated 60 days.
The petitioners had sought deletion of Plot No 59 and the eastern portion of Plot No 62, situated at Manne Muthyalamma Kunta in Turkayamjal, from the prohibitory properties list. The court had directed the collector to consider their representation in the light of earlier proceedings through which neighbouring plots in the same layout had been deleted, and pass a reasoned order if their request was rejected.
The collector, however, failed to act within the prescribed period. He issued a rejection order only on February 26, 2026, after receiving notice in the contempt case. A subsequent rejection order was also passed on July 8, 2026.
The court observed that the collector had failed to offer a satisfactory explanation for the delay and had attempted to re-agitate issues that could not be raised in contempt proceedings. It emphasised that an authority aggrieved by a judicial order must challenge it before the appropriate forum rather than disregard it.
Holding that the Collector’s conduct amounted to wilful and deliberate disobedience, the court imposed six months’ simple imprisonment and a fine of `2,000. However, the sentence of imprisonment was suspended for four weeks.