- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 29TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2025 PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANU SIVARAMAN AND THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAYKUMAR A. PATIL CIVIL CONTEMPT PETITION NO. 584 OF 2020 BETWEEN: 1. SRI. SOMALING S/O RAVATAPPA MADAR AGED ABOUT 53 YEARS, OCC: AGRICULTURE AND BUSINESS R/O THAMBA, TQ INDI DIST VIJAYAPUR 586101. 2. SRI SHANKARAPPA S/O SIDDARAYA HAVINAL AGED ABOUT 41 YEARS, OCC: AGRICULTURE R/O THAMBA TQ INDI, DIST VIJAYAPUR 586101. 3. SMT RAJASHREE W/O SURESH BHANDARKOTE AGED ABOUT 37 YEARS, OCC: BUSINESS R/O THAMBA TQ-INDI DIST- VIJAYPAUR 586 101. REPRESENTED BY THEIR POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER SRI SHARANABASAPPA S/O MONAPPA SARASAMBI AGED ABOUT 43 YEARS, OCC: ENGINEER R/O THAMBA TQ-INDI DIST-VIJAYAPUR-586 101. 4. SRI SHARANABASAPPA S/O MONAPPA Digitally signed by RUPA V Location: High Court Of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 SARASAMBI AGED ABOUT 43 YEARS, OCC: ENGINEER R/O THAMBA TQ INDI DIST-VIJAYAPUR-586 101. …COMPLAINANTS (BY SMT. SUMANGALA SIMIMATH, ADVOCATE FOR SRI. GURUDEV I GACHCHINAMATH., ADVOCATE) AND: 1. SRI. SHRIKANT S/O ADIVEPPA HADALASANG AGED ABOUT 40 YEARS, OCC: PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER GRAM PANCHAYAT TAMBA R/O TAMBA TQ INDI DIST VIJAYAPUR -586 101. 2. SRI RAHUL SINDHE AGE MAJOR OCC : ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER TQ -INDI- 586209 DIST - VIJAYAPUR - 586101 (VCO DATED 06.07.2021 IS AMENDED) 3. SRI. P. SUNIL KUMAR AGE - MAJOR OCC : DEPUTY COMMISSIONER VIJAYAPUR DISTRICT VIJAYAPUR - 586101. (VCO DATED 06.07.2021 CAUSE TITLE IS AMENDED) …ACCUSED (BY SMT. RATNA N. SHIVAYOGIMATH., ADVOCATE FOR A1; SMT. MAMATHA SHETTY, AGA FOR A2 & A3; SMT. S. S. HALALLI, ADVOCATE FOR A4) THIS CCC IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 215 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA R/W SECTION 11 AND 12 OF THE CONTEMPT OF COURT ACT, PRAYS THAT TO INITIATE CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE ACCUSED FOR DELIBERATE AND WILLFUL VIOLATION OF THE ORDERS DATED 17.12.2019 MADE IN W.P.NO.40717/2019 PASSED BY THIS HON'BLE COURT AND PUNISH THE ACCUSED FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT. - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 THIS CIVIL CONTEMPT PETITION HAVING BEEN HEARD AND RESERVED ON 16.10.2025, COMING ON FOR PRONOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT, THIS DAY VIJAYKUMAR A. PATIL J., DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE ANU SIVARAMAN and HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAYKUMAR A. PATIL CAV ORDER (PER: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAYKUMAR A. PATIL) This contempt petition is filed alleging willful disobedience of the order dated 17.12.2019 passed by the Division Bench of this Court in W.P.No.40717/2019 (PIL). 2. The brief facts leading to filing of this petition are that in W.P.No.40717/2019, the petitioners had complained that a public road leading to Thamba Village had been encroached upon, reducing its width and causing serious inconvenience to villagers and visitors. This Court had directed the local authorities to look into the representations made by the petitioners, conduct a proper survey to check for encroachment, and if found, remove it within two months and inform the petitioners about the - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 action taken. However, even after the time fixed by the Court, no steps were taken to comply with those directions. The petitioners, therefore, allege that the concerned officials have wilfully disobeyed the Court’s order and supported the encroacher which has led to the filing of this contempt petition. 3. Smt.Sumangala Simimath, learned counsel for Sri.Gurudev I. Gachchinamath, learned counsel for the complainants submits that the road which has been encroached is the main entrance road to Thamba Village, and it is used by all the villagers. Every Wednesday is the market day for Thamba Village and many people from nearby villages come there. Because of the encroachment, the 20-feet-wide road has been reduced to only 10 feet, making it difficult for the vehicles and the people to move freely. This has caused great inconvenience to the public and affected the business activities in the Village. It is submitted that though this Hon’ble Court had long back directed the authorities in W.P.No.40717/2019 to conduct - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 a survey and remove the encroachment, but no action has been taken even after the time given by the Court has expired. The accused officials are fully aware of the Court’s order but have deliberately ignored it and are supporting the encroacher instead of taking action. It is further submitted that after the complainant No.4 filed a public interest litigation, the encroacher and his men attacked him and his brothers, causing injuries. Later, a false case was also filed against them to harass them. Despite all this, the authorities have remained silent and taken no action. The affidavits filed by the accused would not satisfy the direction issued by this Court and the complainants have filed their responses to such affidavits. It is also submitted that the accused have willfully disobeyed the orders of this Hon’ble Court, hence, the contempt proceedings should be initiated against them to uphold justice. 4. Per contra, Smt.Ratna N. Shivayogimath, learned counsel appearing for the accused No.1 submits - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 that the accused has already taken necessary steps to follow the directions of this Hon’ble Court. As per the Court’s order, he had written a communication letter to the Assistant Director of Land Records (ADLR) on 08.04.2020 requesting a survey of the concerned lands to fix the boundaries. The survey was conducted on 11.06.2020 and 18.06.2020 in the presence of the Assistant Commissioner and complainant No.4. It was found that there was no encroachment by Sri.Rachappa Galed. It is submitted that the portion shown in the survey sketch as encroached, falls under the Public Works Department and Revenue Department limits, and therefore, the accused, being the Panchayat Development Officer, has no power to remove it. It is further submitted that the Assistant Commissioner had orally instructed the accused to stop the removal of encroachment work and that there was no deliberate disobedience of the Court’s order. It is also submitted that any delay in compliance was unintentional and the accused has tendered an - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 unconditional apology for the same. Hence, she seeks to drop the contempt proceedings initiated against accused No.1. 5. Smt. Mamatha Shetty, learned Additional Government Advocate for the accused Nos.2 and 3 submits that the accused have taken all necessary steps to follow the directions of this Hon’ble Court. It is submitted that a joint survey was conducted by the competent authorities. It is further submitted that the accused No.2 was engaged in Covid-19 related duties at the relevant time and therefore, there was some delay in taking further action which was neither deliberate nor intentional. It is also submitted that the accused has complied with the orders of this Hon’ble Court to the extent possible and has also tendered an unconditional apology for the delay. Hence, she seeks to drop the contempt proceedings initiated against the accused Nos.2 and 3 in the interest of justice. - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 6. We have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the complainants, learned counsel for the accused and meticulously perused the directions issued, compliance affidavits and counters to such affidavits. 7. The co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 17.12.2019 in W.P.No.40717/2019 (GM-RES-PIL) issued the following directions: "i) We direct the petitioners to immediately provide copies of the representations at Annexures-J1 to J3 to the fifth respondent; ii)The fifth respondent shall ensure that a survey is carried out with a view to ascertain whether there is any encroachment made on the public road subject matter of this petition as alleged by the petitioners; iii) If the survey reveals that there is an encroachment made by the sixth respondent or any other person on the public road, the fifth respondent shall initiate appropriate proceeding in accordance with law for removal of the encroachment; iv) The aforesaid action shall be taken by the fifth respondent within a period of two months from the date on which the copies of the representations at Annexures-J1 to J3 are supplied to him; v) We direct the fifth respondent to report compliance of the aforesaid directions by addressing a communication to the petitioners or their advocate within a period of three months from the date on which the copies of the aforesaid representations are supplied to him; - 9 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 vi) We make it clear that we have made no final adjudication on the question whether there has been any encroachment on the public road as alleged by the petitioners; vii) Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of on the above terms." 8. The respondent-accused filed affidavits indicating compliance of the aforesaid directions. The affidavit of the accused No.1 dated 13.01.2021 indicates that he has requested the ADLR, Indi, to conduct a survey of the lands covered in different survey numbers vide communication dated 08.04.2020. The survey was fixed on 11.06.2020, 18.06.2020 and notices were issued to the complainants. However, some of the complainants did not receive the notice and complainant No.4 was present during the survey. The survey report was placed, which does not indicate any encroachment. The affidavit dated 10.02.2021 indicates that by inadvertence the accused has mentioned that there was no encroachment and sought apology. It is stated that the encroached road shown in the survey sketch is under the control of Public Works Department and Revenue Department and not within the - 10 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 control of Panchayat. Hence, it is stated that he has no authority to remove the encroachment on the roads. Further it is stated that the Assistant Commissioner has orally requested not to proceed with the work of removal of encroachment. Along with the memo, a letter dated 05.03.2021 was filed wherein the accused No.1 sent a communication to the Assistant Commissioner to take steps for removal of encroachment. The accused No.1 filed another affidavit on 05.07.2021 as per the direction of the Court which indicates that the encroached area is a cart road maintained by PWD and Revenue Department and the survey report depicts no encroachment by the respondent No.6. The said accused has filed a memo along with the report dated 13.07.2021 indicating the action taken by him. The said report is enclosed with photographs evidencing removal of encroachment. The said accused filed another affidavit on 31.08.2021 explaining the action taken by him and the survey conducted by the ADLR. The said affidavit indicates that - 11 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 the encroached shops on the cart road were removed with the police help and the action was reported to the Assistant Commissioner, Indi, by letter dated 13.07.2021. 9. The accused No.2-Assistant Commissioner, Indi, filed an affidavit dated 16.07.2021. The said affidavit refers to various communications between him and the Tahsildar, Indi, Executive Officer, Indi and PDO, Indi. It makes reference with regard to the survey conducted by the ADLR and survey sketches were also produced. The said affidavit reiterates that the encroachment was cleared on 13.07.2021 by the PDO in the presence of the officials and police. It was specifically denied that he has issued any oral instruction to stop the work of removal of encroachment. The affidavit dated 21.09.2021 of the accused No.2 reiterates various correspondences referred supra and refers to the removal of encroachment. The said affidavit indicates that there is no Government road of 20 feet between the property bearing Nos.1517 and 1518 of Thamba Village. The said affidavit also indicates the - 12 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 formation of sites, conversion of lands, etc. and it is categorically deposed that property bearing assessment No.1518 has an 18 feet space used as a road shown in the Annexure-R8 to the affidavit but this is not recorded as a public road in the revenue or panchayat records. The complainants have filed counter objections to the affidavits indicating that there exists a public road and the encroachment is not fully removed. This Court not being satisfied with the affidavits filed by the accused had appointed a learned Additional Government Advocate as the Court Commissioner to find out the actual assertions made by the parties. 10. The learned Additional Government Advocate filed a factual report along with rough sketch, photographs and a compact disc. For easy reference, the report is extracted hereinbelow: "That, in compliance of the order dated 21/09/2021 passed by this Hon'ble Court, I G.V. Shashi Kumar, Additional Government Advocate, representing Accused No.2 and 3, Sri. Gurudev Gachchinmath, - 13 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 counsel representing Complainants and Sri. Shivayogesh Shivayogimath, counsel representing Accused No.1, visited the spot on 02/10/2021 at 3.45 PM. As per the directions of this Hon'ble Court, the Assistant Commissioner, Assistant Director of Land Records and Panchayat Development Officer were present at the spot on 02/10/2021 along with the Executive Officer, Tahsildar and the Police personals assisted us at the spot. (1) That the properties bearing assessment Nos. 1517 and 1518 of Tamba Village were Identified in the presence of aforesaid officials and also the Complainant No.4. (2) That, there is existence of a "MUD ROAD" measuring around 18 feet width running from west to east in the middle of the property bearing assessment No.1518. (3) That on the either side of the MUD ROAD there are shops existing and on enquiry it is informed that the shops are constructed in the year 2012 and the mud road is also existing since 2012. (4) That on the southern side of the MUD ROAD in property bearing assessment No.1518, two electricity poles are installed and one (1) electricity pole is also - 14 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 installed after the property bearing assessment No.1518. (5) That the MUD ROAD is not provided with any drainage facility. The MUD ROAD continues further after the property bearing assessment No.1518 in private properties and connects to the Gramathana Road which leads to the Tamba Village. (6) That, there is existence of a sperate Gramatha Road which leads to the Tamba village from the main road ie., Indi to Daverahipparagi Road. (7) That, there is a sperate entry measuring around 15 feet into the property bearing assessment No.1517 next to police chowki (Indi from the road main to Devarahipparigi) which is being used for ingress and egress by the complainants. (8) That, there is no existence of 20 feet public road between in property bearing assessment Nos. 1517 and 1518. (9) That, there is no encroachment on MUD ROAD measuring around 18 feet in property bearing assessment No.1518. (10) That, the MUD ROAD existing in between shops in assessment No.1518 is being used by the occupants of the shops and also the general public as the said Mud - 15 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 Road proceeds further in the other private properties and connects to the Gramathan Road. (11) That, the encroachment removed by the Panchayat Development officer as per survey sketch, is on the Main Road ie., Indi to Devarhipparigi (PWD Road). (12) That, on enquiry it is informed that there is no approved layout plan in respect of converted land bearing Sy.No.1085 of Tamba Village. It is also informed by the Panchayat Development Officer that as per records the shops constructed in property bearing assessment No.1518 is after obtaining license in the year 2012. Since filing of the joint report by the counsels was unacceptable, I have filed the present report independently. The rough sketch, photographs of the spot and the compact disk of the video recording done during our visit at the spot on 02/10/2021 are produced for the kind perusal and consideration of this Hon'ble Court." 11. The aforesaid factual report which is based on spot inspection by the Court Commissioner along with the officials clearly indicates that there is no existence of 20 feet road in between property bearing assessment - 16 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 Nos.1517 and 1518. Further, there is no encroachment on the mud road measuring 18 feet in the property bearing assessment No.1518 and the authorities have removed the encroachment. The aforesaid affidavits clearly demonstrate that the encroachment has been removed by the accused and the order of this Court dated 17.12.2019 passed in W.P.No.40717/2019 has been complied substantially. The assertion of the complainants that there is still encroachment and further assertion of existence of public road cannot be gone into in these proceedings. It is open for the complainants to work out their remedies before competent forum. The factual report of the Commissioner referred supra indicates that there is free ingress and egress to the complainants' properties. The learned counsel appearing for the accused contended that the complainants being the interested persons have misused the jurisdiction of this Court by filing the public interest litigation by suppressing the fact. The contentions with regard to the locus of the complainants to file the - 17 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC:43241-DB CCC No. 584 of 2020 public interest litigation cannot be gone into in the present proceedings in view of our finding with regard to the compliance of the directions of this Court. 12. For the aforementioned reasons, the contempt proceedings are dropped. Notice issued to the accused is discharged. Sd/- (ANU SIVARAMAN) JUDGE Sd/- (VIJAYKUMAR A. PATIL) JUDGE ABK/RV List No.: 1 Sl No.: 2