Revenue courts to start working from Monday

After remaining shut for almost three months, all revenue courts in Gautam Budh Nagar district will be operational and open to the general public from Monday (June

After remaining shut for almost three months, all revenue courts in Gautam Budh Nagar district will be operational and open to the general public from Monday (June 22). The opening of the revenue courts will help homebuyers get their due refund from property developers as ordered by the Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-Rera).

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The revenue courts were shut since March 24 the Uttar Pradesh government announced a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The statewide lockdown merged with the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25.

“We have asked all staff members to ensure that all revenue courts start operations from June 22. All senior officials are asked to inform their junior staff that they should report to work in the revenue courts as usual from June 22,” Suhas LY, district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

When a homebuyer files a refund case against a builder with the UP-Rera and regulatory body decides in favour of the buyer ordering the administration to recover the revenue, it is the revenue court staff that carries out the job. At least 1,000 recovery orders of the authority related to homebuyers and developers are yet to be implemented because of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, a UP-Rera official, who did not wish to be named, said.

Lawyers said that opening up of revenue courts will help the public get their work stuck because of the lockdown done now. “Since the lockdown started, work related to recovering revenue was stuck and of the government and homebuyers, investors and even the government suffered. While the civil courts were already working, people can start getting their work done from Monday at the revenue court as well. However, maintaining social distance must be the top priority for everyone to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Parminder Singh Bhati, advocate and former president, Gautam Budh Nagar bar association, said.

The UP government had on June 19 sent a letter to the DM on opening the revenue courts. Subsequently, the Gautam Budh Nagar DM has issued an official order on June 20 in this regard asking the naib tehsildar, tehsildar, and other officials to take necessary action so that the state government’s directions are implemented.

Naib tehsildar, a key official in the revenue administration, decides cases related to land disputes, recovery of revenue from land-owning farmers, and also cases related to the recovery of revenue from commercial and institutional groups and property developers for the government.

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