Shimla, June 12 (UNI) Highlighting prolonged government inaction, the district judge (forest) Ajay Mehta has directed the attachment of key government properties, including the PWD rest house at Tara Devi, two official vehicles from the PWD headquarters, furniture, computers, and heaters, over non-payment of land compensation to farmers for the past 27 years.

The case pertains to land acquired in 1998 by the Public Works Department (PWD) Rohru division for the construction of the Baidhar-Thana-Tikkar road. Approximately 15 bighas were acquired, including apple orchards, and the land acquisition officer had initially assessed compensation at Rs. 6,252 per apple plant.

Unsatisfied with the award, landowners from Tikka -- Diwan Chand, Bhajan Das, Inder Singh, Narain Chand, Bahadur Singh, Nihal Chand, Jagdish, Mohan Chand, Jai Krishan, and Rameshwar -- moved court in 2012.

In 2017, the additional district and sessions judge ordered an enhanced compensation of Rs 26,575 per plant. However, the state failed to implement the order or deposit Rs 2.5 crore compensation, prompting the petitioners to file an execution petition in 2020.

The court noted that despite three prior orders to attach government property, no action was taken to disburse the compensation. It further observed that both the secretary (PWD secretariat) and the Land Acquisition Officer (Winter Field, Shimla) failed to cooperate with court proceedings.

While the state government has now sought an additional four months to deposit the dues, the next hearing has been scheduled for June 18. The court has made it clear that the attachment orders will remain in force until then.

In a related matter, a single bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel of the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently ordered the attachment of Himachal Bhavan and 18 properties of HPTDC over unpaid arbitration awards and pending dues of retired employees, reflecting a broader trend of judicial strictness over financial defaults by the state.

UNI ML PRS