Land grabbing case
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Judge of the High Court of Meghalaya, Justice Nanda Kumar Singh has come down heavily on Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) before whom an appeal related to the alleged land grabbing case involving lawyer SP Mahanta is pending.
The case against Mahanta was filed by Tushar Bhatacharjee who is settled in Sydney, Australia.
The Judge, taking up the case suo moto said in his order on April 9 that it is not known why the Deputy Commissioner took such a long time in disposing of the appeal and asked him to do the same at the earliest.
The Judge wanted the case to be disposed of either on April 25 or April 26 or before May 6.
“In case of non disposal of the case, the Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) should appear in person on May 6 at 10.30 am to apprise the court on why the appeal has not been disposed of”, the Judge said.
After the allegations surfaced, Mahanta was terminated from the post of Additional Advocate General following the controversies.
Meanwhile, the petitioner filed a fresh appeal before the court of Additional Deputy Commissioner, Shillong after a lower court passed an order in favour of Mahanta on February 10 last year.
However, the State Government reinstated Mahanta as the Additional Advocate General following the judgment of the lower court.
“On perusal of record, it transpires that the Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), before whom the appeal is pending, has been directed to dispose of the appeal”, the Judge said.
According to the Judge, the appellate court is not required to take any evidence in an appeal.
“It is not known to this court as to why the learned Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) took such a long time is disposing of the appeal. The Deputy Commissioner has to remember that the request from the side of this court, which is the highest judicial authority of the State, should be taken as an order”, the Judge said.
The Judge further said that “if the order of this court is not taken seriously necessary contempt proceedings shall be taken”.
As a last chance, the Judge said that the Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) should not allow an application for adjournment filed by the parties.