Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, July 7, expressed concern over the growing number of petitions being filed over delays in routine revenue administration and directed the Revenue Department to frame a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure the timely disposal of applications.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar asked the Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department to prepare the SOP and submit a report to the court within four weeks. The court observed that issues such as disposal of F-Line applications, correction of revenue records, restoration of missing survey numbers and mutation requests should ordinarily be resolved at the departmental level without forcing citizens to approach the court.
Petition filed by Nizamabad resident
The direction came while hearing a petition filed by Hanmandlu, a resident of Bodhan mandal in Nizamabad district, who challenged the authorities’ failure to act on his mutation application submitted in October last year.
Counsel for the petitioner told the court that despite eight months having elapsed since the application was filed, the revenue authorities had not taken a decision and sought directions for its disposal.
The government pleader submitted that the delay was due to a large number of similar applications pending before the department.
Observing that citizens from across the country and even those living abroad expect their applications to be processed within a reasonable time, the court said people were being compelled to approach the judiciary as a last resort to obtain services that revenue authorities were legally bound to provide.
Court directs for SOP submission within 4 weeks
The court directed the Revenue Department to submit the SOP within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on August 8. It also instructed the High Court Registry to forward a copy of the order to the Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department by Wednesday.
