On February 17, the Telangana High Court sentenced Medak District Collector Rahul Raj to 6 months simple jail and a fine of Rs 2,000 for contempt of court. Justice K. Laxman pronounced this sentence during the hearing, but postponed the sentence for four weeks, giving him a chance to appeal.
This decision came in a case related to a land dispute, where the Collector deliberately disobeyed the High Court’s orders of June 2024. This matter was raised by a 51-year-old woman named Nallaveli Lakshmi, a resident of Bonal village. Lakshmi claimed that the mutation of 2.22 acres of land inherited from her grandfather was not done in her name. When he first challenged the Collector’s decision, the High Court canceled the order of January 2024 and ordered a new investigation.
what is the whole matter
The court had clearly said that it should issue notice to both the parties and listen to their objections and then take the decision in a transparent manner, but in December 2024, the Collector again rejected Lakshmi’s claim. When the court looked at the records, it found that Lakshmi did not receive any notice, nor was she given a chance to be heard. It was claimed that the notice was sent on WhatsApp, but there was no proof. Due to this the woman had to visit the court again.
This dispute is related to Bonal village of Chegunta mandal. Lakshmi filed a contempt petition against the Collector, saying that clear instructions of the High Court were ignored. The court considered this as deliberate disobedience and sentenced him. Justice Laxman remarked that such behavior of a senior IAS officer is not acceptable, especially when a poor woman has to knock on doors repeatedly for justice. Along with the punishment, the court gave the collector a chance to file an appeal in four weeks.
topic of discussion throughout the state
In the last few years, there have been cases of disobedience of court orders in land disputes in Telangana, but it is rare for a senior officer to get such punishment. Rahul Raj is a 2015 batch IAS officer and was handling administrative work in Medak district. Now it remains to be seen what happens in the appeal, but at present this news remains a topic of discussion in the entire state.
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