1965 war-widow yet to get land; HC imposes cost on govt

Expressing strong displeasure over bureaucratic delays, the Bombay High Court today imposed a cost of Rs 75,000 on Maharashtra government for failure to allot a plot of land to a war widow.
The amount should be recovered from the concerned officials, said the division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and A S Chandurkar, hearing the petition of 72-year-old Indira Jadhav whose husband became martyr in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
The court said it was shocking that the officials had noted in documents that Jadhav was not traceable though her address was mentioned her application.
The bench directed the Maharashtra chief secretary to find out whether there were similar cases and ensure that speedy action was taken in all of them.

A heavy cost was imposed on the concerned officials as they failed to allot Jadhav a 10-acre plot in Ratnagiri district even after giving multiple assurances to her over the past many years and despite letters from the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and the Army Chief, the HC said.
While Jadvav claimed she had approached the government for land in 1970s, the state argued that she made a formal application only in 2011.

The court ordered that she be allotted a 10-acre residential plot within six weeks, in accordance with a 1971 government resolution.
Further, she may be given another (agricultural) land of 300 square metres in the same place as per the 1998 GR at 50 per cent of the occupancy rates in the ready reckoner.

The cost of Rs 75,000 imposed on the government should be adjusted in the cost of the land and the balance, if any, be deposited in her bank account, judges said.