Click to play videoKoriya (Chattisgarh): Pati Raj, who works as a daily wage labourer in Chattisgarh's Koriya district, has been robbed of his land. The Municipal Corporation is building houses under the Atal Niwas Yojana on his land and Pati Raj and his wife are now casual workers on their own land.
Pati Raj, who has been fighting his case in the local court, pays Rs 600 for each hearing. He is unaware that some of these costs are illegal.
The Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1971, abolished the application fees of Rs 2 for getting copies of revenue court orders. But in Chhattisgarh, the law is still being followed. While the copying fee specified in the Act is Rs 10 for three pages, tehsils in the district charge Rs 10 for every page.
"They demand Rs 10 per page for a copy of the court order. So Rs 150 for 15 pages and some money for themselves as well," says Pati Raj.
Atibal Singh, who works as a farmer, is also fighting a case involving his land and faces the same problem as Pati Raj.
"I have put Rs 10 stamps on every page," says Atibal.
Documents show the law is being implemented across the state. In district Manendragarh, the collections from application fees alone, were well over a lakh, in the last six years.
"Rule 15 of section 256 has not been amended. The Rs 2 stamp that the MP and Chhattisgarh governments are demanding is illegal," says a lawyer, Rishabh Kumar Jain.
Ramashankar Gupta, a local activist plans to take the matter to the Supreme Court.
"I'm pained for the people who lost their right to justice because of this corruption," says Gupta.
Meanwhile, the local and the state Governments remain ignorant of the law. Revenue Secretary, Chhattisgarh, N K Aswal says, "It could have been because of some ignorance. We'll get it examined if such complaints are there."
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