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The Telangana High Court recently awarded six-month simple imprisonment to two IAS officers, two IFS officers and two other officers in a contempt of court case.

The Single Bench of Justice T. Amarnath Goud held that the said officers were guilty of not complying with the order of the HC passed in 2009. Further, he also imposed a fine of ₹2,000 each on the officials.

The following officers were awarded jail term and fine,

D. Amoy Kumar IAS (Ranga Reddy Collector), A Santha Kumari IAS (Special Chief Secretary of Environmental Forest Sciences and Technology), R. Shobha IFS (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests), Sunitha M. Bhagwat IFS (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests), Janaki Ram (Divisional Forest Officer) and S. Tirupathi Rao (Additional Collector and Forest Settlement Officer).

It must be noted that, Mohd. Sirajuddin and nine others had filed the contempt of court petition in 2015 which alleged that the officials failed to implement the HC orders with regard to 383 acres of land in Maheshwaram village and mandal of Ranga Reddy district.

It is to be further noted that during the course of hearing, the petitioners’ counsel contended that, Maheshwaram Mandal Revenue Officer in year 2000 had sent a report to the Collector clarifying that the lands were patta lands.

He further told the court that, authorities had moved a proposal to allot 380 acres of land to the petitioners under land bank of Ranga Reddy district as acquiring their lands would require payment of huge compensation to the land owners.

The dispute over rights of the said lands date back to 2008 when the Forest authorities initiated action under Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967 to declare the lands as Reserve Forest.

In 2009, the petitioners moved High Court by filing a writ petition and challenged the decision of the Forest authorities.

Back then, the HC disposed of the petition and directed the authorities to finalise within six months the issue relating to the acquisition of lands for conversion into Reserve Forest. But, the authorities did not comply with the HC order therefore, the petitioners filed the contempt of court case in 2015.