SC to check their power to interfere with semi-judicial worksNew Delhi: Can parliamentary and legislative committees interfere in the semi-judicial work of the Department of Revenue? The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to investigate this question arising out of the directions issued by a parliamentary committee in the UP Assembly in the land dispute case.Looking at a petitioner, senior advocate Amit Anand Tiwari told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymlya Bagchi that several directions have been issued by the Uttar Pradesh government, on the instructions of legislative committees, revenue officials have been asked to take “necessary action” and submit a report on the land dispute.Tiwari said, “Such instructions apply to free and independent assistant in proceedings pending directly and largely by the revenue officials, which motivated the bench to entertain the petition and said the law arising in the case is questioned-” Can legislative committees interfere with the semi-judicial works of the revenue officers? “The issue is related to the demarcation and determination of the occupation of a plot, which can be run by the competent authority according to the petitioner, in this case the sub-division magistrate under the Deputy Revenue Code.Tiwari said that a proper and effective addition is not possible by the revenue officials if there is regular and continuous intervention from legislative committees. He said that Allahabad HC erased the revenue officials to fail to release the appropriate directions by political officials by political authorities.The petitioner informed the SC that he had filed a complaint before the Assistant Collector, Meja, Prayer under Section 67 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, in 2006, against an RP Shukla, who was using his influence, encroached on public land, which led to great difficulty and interruptions for people to pursue their agricultural activities.“While the petitioner was chasing the measures available under the law, questions were being raised in the assembly and directions were being issued by the Secretariat to the revenue officials, asking them to take necessary action and submit a report about the land dispute regarding RP Shukla,” he accused.
