The Manipur High Court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL seeking direction to the state authorities to pay back the amounts that they allegedly extracted in May, 2019 from landslide-affected beneficiaries in Kasom Khullen Village of Kamjong District in Manipur.
The PIL filed by one Elue Akham further sought a direction to take legal action against the Deputy Commissioner, Kamjong District, and the Sub-Divisional Officer, Kasom Khullen Block, Kamjong District.
Preliminary objections as to the maintainability of the petition were raised by the Deputy Secretary (Relief & Disaster Management), Government of Manipur. While so, there was no representation for the petitioner or his counsel when the matter was taken up for hearing on March 3, 2022, April 27, 2022 and June 8, 2022. The matter was accordingly directed to be listed under the caption ‘Dismissal’ on June 17, 2022.
On July 4, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Ananthem Bimol Singh observed that yet again, there is no representation for the petitioner or his Counsel.
In the light of unrebutted objections raised as to the maintainability of the case and the continued failure on part of the petitioner and/or his Counsel to attend the hearings of the case, the Court is constrained to dismiss PIL for non-prosecution.