Court to attach Chief Secretary’s chair if compensation is not settled

A local court in Bangalore has threatened to attach the rotating chair of Karnataka’s Chief Secretary if the Government does not pay the compensation dues of an old woman amounting to Rs 500,000.

The aged woman Susheelamma, who lost her land 30 years ago to Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore, had still not received the compensation amount from the Government.

But, the 27th Additional City Civil Court in Bangalore issued an ultimatum to the Karnataka Government to settle the compensation amount before June 12, failing which the rotating chair, air-conditioner, tables and fans in the Chief Secretary’s office will be attached.

Susheelamma, who is sufferring from diabetes-related ailments, had been running from pillar to post for the compensation amount in lieu of her 5 acres and 7 guntas of land that had been acquired. Though compensation amount fixed 30 years ago was Rs 30,000, the compensation payable now is around Rs 500,000 including the interest accrued. The land, however, is worth Rs 350 million presently.

Welcoming the court order, Susheelamma’s counsel S Siddappa said the lethargic bureaucrats would not respond to litigants unless the courts take certain drastic measures.

The Bangalore court’s order comes close on the heels of a similar order delivered by a court in Tumkur near here for attaching a train after the Railway’s had failed to disburse compensation to the next of kin of six persons, who had died in a train mishap.