Following an order of the Senior Civil Judge of Kalaburagi District Court, the court bailiff seized the vehicle of the Deputy Commissioner of Kalaburagi for non-payment of compensation to a farmer who had lost his land for an irrigation project of the Karnataka Government.
The bailiff, along with the farmer and his advocate, went to the district administrative complex in the morning on February 15, and seized the vehicle. However, the vehicle was not taken out of the premises of the district administrative complex.
As per information provided by the court staff and the lawyer of the farmer, as many as 33 guntas belonging to Kallappa Bhagappa Metre, a resident of Udachan village in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district, was acquired for the Bhima Lift Irrigation project in 2007-08. As he was not satisfied with the compensation paid as per an order issued by a civil court in Afzalpur in 2012, the farmer approached the district court in Kalaburagi, which hiked the compensation amount and asked the authorities concerned to pay the amount within a stipulated time.
However, the authorities failed to comply with the order.
The farmer approached the Senior Civil Judge with an Execution Petition seeking enforcement of the order. When the authorities concerned did not comply with the order, the court attached the Deputy Commissioner’s vehicle, which he uses on a daily basis.
“I have suffered a lot in the court case. Even after a decade of struggle, I have not got the compensation I am entitled to as per the court order. Officials never bothered to comply with the court order and pay the compensation. I am happy that the court finally took stringent action,” Mr. Metre told The Hindu.
“As per the court order, the authorities have to pay a sum of ₹7,41,132 to the farmer who had lost his land for the irrigation project. The court has issued an order on January 12 directing us to seize the Deputy Commissioner’s vehicle before February 18, 2022, and keep it with the court till further orders. That is why we seized the vehicle today,” the court bailiff told The Hindu outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner.
Deputy Commissioner Yeshwanth Gurukar termed the development as the result of publicity effort by the advocate of the farmer.
“There are many orders on EPs [executive petition] against every IAS officer and they have to be implemented one after other. Though the last date for implementation of the order is 18.02.2022, the lawyer came with his client and the court bailiff, and seized the vehicle. I was not even served a notice on the issue beforehand,” Mr. Gurukar told The Hindu.
Referring to a video conference that Justice B. Veerappa of Karnataka High Court chaired, Mr. Gurukar said that the High Court of Karnataka had clearly directed all the Principal District and Sessions Judges across the State not to attach any property of the government, but to resolve issues through reconciliation in Lok Adalats.
“After I spoke to the PDSJ [Principal District and Sessions Judge], who assured that he would look into the matter and resolve it amicably, the court staff left my office without taking my vehicle,” Mr. Gurukar said.
