Punjab and haryana high court on Friday directed Punjab IAS officer Sucha Ram Ladhar to deposit one-third of total arbitration fee (Rs 1.5 crore) to Punjab's arbitration account. HC has also directed the Centre as well as the state to reply to petitioner's argument that as per Central government's circulars, Ladhar has charged much more than the authorised amount.

Ladhar had charged Jalandhar and Patiala farmers more than Rs. 1.50 crore in arbitration fee, while deciding their land-acquisition compensation cases. It came to light when Hindustan Times ran a series of reports starting with "IAS officer reaps a rich harvest" and "No policy, Ladhar makes hay as arbitrator" (May 24 and 25, 2012) about the conduct of Ladhar (53), a 1991-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).