Telangana High Court Upholds Legal Limits on Lok Ayukta\'s Authority
After quashing the order, the court gave liberty to parties to take recourse to any remedy as may be available to them in law
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has said that the Lok Ayukta cannot cross the limits imposed by law while issuing orders related to revenue-related issues.
Dealing with a petition requesting the court to set aside an order issued by the Lok Ayukta for the recovery of compensation paid to ineligible persons, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar said that Sections 7 and 8 of the Lok Ayukta Act do not empower the authority to pass orders in cases where it lacks jurisdiction.
The petitioners assailed the validity of an order issued by the Lok Ayukta on September 6, 2021, directing the Husnabad revenue divisional officer to recover compensation wrongly paid to persons for the acquisition of land and deposit it in the court so that the appropriate persons could be paid.
Acting on the direction, the Husnabad RDO on October 29, 2021, issued “Notice-2” to the petitioners, asking them to deposit the compensation amount received by them before the court.
Counsel admitted that the Lok Ayukta could not have passed such orders under the provisions of Telangana Lok Ayukta Act, 1983.
After quashing the order, the court gave liberty to parties to take recourse to any remedy as may be available to them in law with regard to their grievance.