No Harm In Appearing Before Court Through Video Conference: Top Court To Defence Ministry

New Delhi:

“There is not any hurt in showing thru video conferencing”, the Very best Court docket on Thursday advised to secretary of Ministry of Defence, who has been requested to seem sooner than the Madhya Pradesh Prime Court docket in a contempt case associated with a land reimbursement subject.

The highest courtroom was once listening to the plea filed by means of Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar looking for keep of the top courtroom order of August 18 directing him to seem sooner than it in a contempt case on Thursday thru video conferencing.

It was once knowledgeable that the top courtroom adjourned the subject by means of one week. 

“Record the subject after two weeks,” stated the order by means of a bench comprising Leader Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, which orally seen, “there is not any hurt in showing thru video conferencing”.

Further Solicitor Common KM Nataraj, who seemed for the Defence Secretary, contended that the problem isn’t even remotely attached with the officer.  

“All of the subject is pending with the reference courtroom to adjudicate the declare relating to reimbursement. How can the volume be distributed with out adjudicating,” he stated.

He stated that the Prime Court docket had with out going into the information and cases of the case directed the secretary of the Ministry of Defence to seem within the subject.

He added that all of the subject in regards to the adjudication at the reimbursement is already pending sooner than the Reference Court docket subsequently and no objective could be served in calling the Defence Secretary to present any rationalization.

The dispute within the subject were given induced after the Central executive on Might 6, 2016, issued notification implementing restrictions, specified underneath provisions of the Works of Defence Act, 1903, upon the use and delight in the land mendacity within the neighborhood of Army Station Sukhlalpur, in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Prime Court docket, whilst getting rid of writ petitions filed by means of sure aggrieved individuals had in 2017 directed suitable steps be taken to resolve the damages and cost of damages because of imposition of restrictions in regard to make use of of lands inside a length of six months.  

The plea filed by means of defence secretary, thru suggest Sachin Sharma, stated that aggrieved individuals have filed 3 frivolous contempt petitions sooner than the Prime Court docket.  

It stated that they have got advised the Prime Court docket by means of affidavit that the order which has been sought to be complied with essentially relaxation with the collector, as according to the requirement of Works of Defence Act, 1903 (WODA) he’s the competent authority to continue for the resolution of the reimbursement quantity.

The petition stated that from perusal of the quite a lot of affidavits filed sooner than the Prime Court docket in contempt petitions by means of any stretch of creativeness “it can’t be construed that there’s any willful disobedience of any of the orders handed by means of the Court docket”.

It stated that the Petitioners had apprised the courtroom of each step taken by means of the collector who’s without equal authority to disburse the reimbursement to the events involved and the impugned order dated August 18, isn’t sustainable within the eyes of legislation.  

“It’s price bringing up that the prolong in disbursement of the reimbursement to the Respondents is handiest as a result of the Collector Land Acquisition who no longer as soon as however three times dedicated an error in calculating the reimbursement and thereafter revised the similar,” the plea stated.

It added that after the general calculation was once carried out by means of the Collector vide order dated September 27, 2019 the similar was once challenged by means of the Petitioner sooner than the Reference Court docket underneath segment 18 of the WODA.  

It’s additional submitted that “even the Collector Land acquisition was once at a loss for words between the provisions of WODA, the Land Acquisition Act, and the Proper to Honest Repayment and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013”.

“Because the subject was once already sub-judice sooner than the Reference Court docket to adjudicate the Software underneath segment 18 of the WODA, there is not any position in any way of the Defence Secretary to come back and give an explanation for the stairs taken against compliance of the order dated August 30, 2017”, it stated.

On November 13, 2018, the Collector (Land Acquisition) Jabalpur, with out going into the truth that the existing complaints have been ruled by means of the Paintings of Defence Act and no longer by means of the Land Acquisition Act erroneously made an preliminary award of over Rs 10 crores.  

On January 25, 2019, the Collector (Land Acquisition) Jabalpur, whilst correcting the sooner calculation, made an faulty award of over Rs Six crores with out making use of the provisions of the Works and Defence Act. On September 27, 2019, the collector with out going into the information and cases of the case and opposite to the factors supplied underneath the Works of Defence Act, once more recalculated the reimbursement quantity of just about Rs two crores.  

On July 31, 2020, the ministry of Defence being aggrieved by means of the recalculation carried out by means of the Collector of just about Rs two crores opposite to the provisions of Works of Defence Act, filed an software sooner than the precise discussion board.

That subject was once on August 17, 2020 was once referred by means of the Collector to the District Pass judgement on/Reference Court docket for adjudication of the problem bearing on the resolution of the Repayment quantity.

Then again, the Prime Court docket on August 18 whilst listening to a contempt petition requested the Defence secretary and others to seem on October eight, sooner than it to give an explanation for the placement.