The Punjab and Haryana high court has imposed a fine of ₹20 lakh on different authorities in Haryana for delay in providing basic amenities in a Gurugram locality.
“The state shall ensure that the costs are recovered from the erring officials as per law, since the financial burden for inaction and laxity on the part of the officials cannot be passed onto the tax payers of the state,” the bench of justice Vinod S Bhardwaj and justice Ravinder Malik ordered.
It also asked the chief secretary to file an affidavit giving details of the orders passed by the HC during the last five years, in which a fine was imposed with a liberty to recover the same from the erring officials along with the status of the fine recovered in such cases.
The order came on a clutch of petitions filed by Gurugram colonisers, in which it was highlighted that the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has not initiated the process for the acquisition of land to provide a major sectoral road, even though the full amount of extra development charges has been taken from developers and others despite the lapse of 18 years.
“It is deeply distressing to note that while colossal amounts towards external development charges (EDC) have been paid to and retained by the state since the year 2008, the ultimate consumers and bonafide home buyers have been deprived of basic infrastructure facilities for more than a decade,” the court observed, adding that the authorities are required to “awaken to the reality” that such administrative lethargy is not victimless omission, rather it directly and disproportionately penalises the common citizens.
“Any further delay in the acquisition of land and execution of these development works inevitably triggers a spiraling effect on the overall project costs and leading to an enhanced EDC and an inflated financial burden to be recovered from the end-purchaser or consumer,” it further said.
{{/usCountry}}“Any further delay in the acquisition of land and execution of these development works inevitably triggers a spiraling effect on the overall project costs and leading to an enhanced EDC and an inflated financial burden to be recovered from the end-purchaser or consumer,” it further said.
{{/usCountry}}The court noted that the statutory mechanism is designed to facilitate planned urban development for the welfare of the public and fosters corresponding obligations on the state as well and the lack of administrative intent is not to subject home buyers to endless waiting and escalating financial hardship on account of bureaucratic apathy.
As it came to know that even now timelines for the same have not been given, the court sought an affidavit seeking timelines within which the process for acquisition of the land and for construction of the sectoral roads as well as the basic amenities would be undertaken by authorities, within a period of four weeks.
“Additionally, for displaying the complete red-tapism and inaction, we deem it appropriate to propose imposition of costs of ₹10 lakh each on the office of the director general, department of town and country planning and HSVP to be deposited with Poor Patient Welfare Fund at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh,” the court ordered, while fixing next date of hearing on November 16.