Greeva Garg –
Published on August 05, 2021, at 04:25 PM
The Gujarat High Court questioned the State Government about whether the amendment made in the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act that led to invoking the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) is misused by the Executive.
The vacation bench headed by Justice Paresh Upadhyay noted that, “This Court finds that a wider issue has cropped up, as to whether the object sought to be achieved by the Government, with the introduction of this amendment, is achieved or is being misused by the executive. On this point, the response from the State Government and the Home Department is requested.”
The observation was made while the court was hearing a case where a person was slapped for not vacating a rented house after an FIR was lodged against him by the landlord.
The complainant lived on the first floor and rented the ground floor to a lady against whom he filed an FIR.
The complainant had objections to the people visiting the tenant and requested her to vacate the premises.
When the tenant did not vacate the floor, the complainant registered an FIR against the tenant and 6 other persons who used to visit her, under the land Grabbing Act. One of the 6 persons filed the plea against the complaint.
The complainant while hearing a plea in the High Court, also alleged the tenant under the provisions of the PASA Act and the person was ordered to be detained. The order of detention has now been stayed by the High Court.
The High Court also observed that, “The small causes courts are replete with such cases involving disputes between landlords and tenants and that the practice of invoking PASA against tenants who are reluctant to vacate the premises would end all civil litigations and landlords would resort to the use of land grabbing laws.”
The Court listed the matter for the further hearing to be held on August 23.
Also read: Gujarat HC Advocates’ Association to boycott official functions till Resumption of Physical Hearing