No affidavit, no appearance reflects CS office in poor light: HC

Expressing displeasure over the Chief Secretary not complying with its direction issued on August 25, the Telangana High Court had given one more week’s time to the top official to file an affidavit over instructing all the District Collectors to pass on details of the prohibited properties under Section 22A of the Registration Act 1908 to all Sub-Registrars concerned.

A Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin, hearing a batch of writ petitions over some Sub-Registrar offices in the State not accepting the sale deeds presented for registration, directed that the CS should appear personally before it on Wednesday, if he failed to submit the affidavit.

The Bench recalled that on August 25, it directed the CS to file the affidavit on or before September 3, and be physically present if such affidavit was not filed.

When the matter was called on September 3, neither the affidavit was filed nor the CS was present. The Government Pleader for Revenue requested the HC Bench to grant one more week’s time to file the affidavit. “Dispense with petition is also not filed. This is not expected from the office of the Chief Secretary. It reflects the office of the Chief Secretary in poor light,” the Bench noted in its order.

The Bench also said that a Full Bench of the HC, in the case of Vinjamuri Rajagopala Chary, directed the respective governments of both the States to constitute a Committee or a Forum within a time frame over the issue of lists of properties that are prohibited from conducting transactions. The Bench stated that it was also conscious of the fact of different sections of the Registrations Act and powers conferred on authorities in the matter.

Since various authorities of the government were involved under Section 22A of the Act, the directions were issued to the Chief Secretary.