Khushi Bajpai
Published on: July 21, 2022 at 21:16 IST
The Allahabad High Court said that Uttar Pradesh government’s act of proceeding to remove the 20 years old alleged encroachment is laudable, but the State Government will also have to ascertain the liability of officials who did not ensure that Gaon Sabha property is not encroached.
The Bench of Justice Abdul Moin was essentially dealing with the plea of one Mahesh Kumar Agrawal seeking quashing of an order passed by Assistant Collector, Sitapur holding him to be an encroacher, imposing a penalty of Rs.5,40,200/- and initiating recovery proceedings against him.
The order further noted that the petitioner had encroached upon the land 20 years earlier i.e., he was an encroacher for a period of 20 years upon the Gaon Sabha land as he built a boundary wall and a building there.
At the outset, the court noted that the impugned order recorded those two years earlier (prior to the passing of the order) the boundary wall had been removed, however, the order was completely silent to have been constructed which is said to have been constructed over the disputed land.
Further regarding the failure of officials to prevent encroachment over Gaon Sabha land, the court further remarked.