Kochi, August 18: Kerala High court today stayed the single judge order with regard to the takeover of ”Munnar Woods” hill resort at Munnar in Idukki district. The order was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice A K Basheer on an appeal filed by state government challenging Justice S Sirijagan”s July 22 ruling which set aside an order of then Idukki district Collector Raju Narayana Swamy on the takeover of the resort.
The single judge had criticised Swamy, saying the order had been issued without the “collector being sure about his powers. Bureaucracy must practise discipline and restrain.
He had also directed Swamy to pay a cost of Rs 15,000. The bench had on August 5 directed that all cases relating to eviction should be posted before it following a request by Advocate General C P Sudhakara Prasad.
The government stated that the judge had decided on the right of the title of the property, while the challenge is against the takeover of the resort. The ”Munnar Woods” was completely demolished and tookover by the government which said it had been constructed in the government land.
The action was initiated as part of the government”s drive against encroachers in Munnar. In the appeal, the government said that its officers had been ”severely criticised” by the judge on the basis of ”irrelevant considerations” and the court had voluntarily referred to certain cases without notices to officers or government.
—PTI–