HC was hearing a petition by Rakesh Godambe of Pune against the district collector, who did not respond to his representation dated June 28, 2011.
“We are appalled to notice the laxity and indifference of the collector in not expediting the process of deciding the subject representation even after service of present writ. Admittedly, no decision has been communicated to the petitioner till date,” justices A M Khanvilkar and R Y Ganoo noted.
“Institution or pendency of this petition was certainly not an impediment in taking decision. Any prudent officer would expedite the process as soon as he is served a copy of a petition making grievance against him. The attitude of the officer in not deciding the representation is, to say the least, deplorable.”
The judges directed the collector to decide the representation by January 19 and communicate. They also told him to submit a compliance report to the court registry, failing which the matter would be notified under the caption “direction” on January 22, 2013.