HC issues norms on land survey, slams bribe culture

APPCOVID-19

CITY
HC issues norms on land survey, slams bribe culture
Kaushik Kannan | Oct 10, 2020, 04:20 IST
+1
AA

Madurai: Observing that it is very unfortunate that officials are demanding bribes even for doing their duties by forgetting the fact that they are paid salary by the government, the Madras high court has issued a series of guidelines with regard to survey of properties.
REMOVE ADS

The court was hearing a petition filed by Asaithambi, who sought to forbear the authorities from conducting repeated surveys of the property owned by him at Ponmeni village in Madurai district. There was a civil dispute between the petitioner and another person, Mahendran over the property.
“We are now in the era of global digitalization and by use of advanced technology / machinery, the survey could be easily done, so as to bring the issue to a logical end with the satisfaction of both parties,” justice S Vaidyanathan observed. Hence, the judge directed the tahsildar to depute an honest surveyor to survey the said property in the presence of both the parties within two months.
“Some of the surveyors think that they are inducted into the revenue department to accumulate wealth for themselves and not to generate revenue for the government,” the judge added.
EXPLORE BRIEFS
NEWS IN
BRIEF
Your one-minute news catch up

TRP: Republic TV’s CFO doesn’t appear before cops, cites SC hearing
Despite summons, Republic TV’s Chief Financial Officer did not appear before the Mumbai police on Saturday to record his statement in connection with the TRP manipulation racket, saying the channel has approached the Supreme Court in the case. The channel’s CFO, against whom summons had been issued on Friday, also requested the police not to record his statement.

India reports 73,272 new coronavirus cases, 926 fresh fatalities
India reported 73,272 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall caseload to 69,79,423, while 59,88,822 people have recuperated so far, pushing the recovery rate to 85.81 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated Saturday.

China has deployed 60K soldiers on India’s border: Pompeo
China has amassed more than 60,000 troops on India’s northern border, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said as he hit out at Beijing for its “bad behaviour” and the threats it poses to the Quad countries. The foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific nations known as the Quad group – the US, Japan, India and Australia – met in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Ayush protocol based on ‘empirical evidence’, govt counters IMA
The government countered the Indian Medical Association’s criticism of the Centre’s Ayush protocol for Covid-19 management, saying the advice was based on Ayurveda and yoga after considering “empirical evidences and biological plausibility” as well as emerging trends from ongoing clinical trials.

RWAs not right in stopping newspapers from reaching homes
Union information & broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar has said it is not correct for any entities including any Resident Welfare Association to stop the door-to-door delivery of newspapers to people’s homes. The minister said he reads 20 newspapers every day, and he has not seen any special problem with newspapers.

Crime against women: MHA issues advisory to states
The ministry of home affairs on Saturday directed all states and Union territories to strictly enforce laws and guidelines relating to sexual assault on women and take stringent action against officers responsible for lapses. In case the crime is committed outside the jurisdiction of a police station, the victim can file a “Zero FIR”.
GO TO BRIEFS
The judge issued guidelines to be followed by the authorities in respect of survey of the properties in future: On receipt of charges towards survey, the survey should be completed within 30 days, else the cost of application shall be returned to the parties along with recovery of a sum of Rs 2,500 from the salary of the concerned officials.
The judge said that departmental proceedings should be initiated against such officials and they could be placed under suspension and even dismissed from service for their misconduct and dereliction of duty, so as to deprive their entire gratuity and terminal benefits under the head ‘moral turpitude’, for failing to perform their duties. Adverse remarks against such officers should be entered in their service register to deprive their future promotions and such officials shall be displaced to a non-sensitive post.

The authorities shall make use of drone technology in order to conduct accurate surveys of the property, which will throw light with regard to encroachment on government lands, said the judge.
Download