Gujarat High Court orders Ahmedabad Collector to pay ₹1 lakh from his own salary

The Ahmedabad Collector must pay ₹1 lakh in costs from his own salary for ignoring an earlier Gujarat High Court judgment in a land case, the court has ruled, DeshGujarat reported on 9 November.

Justice M. K. Thakker found a “flagrant violation” of the court’s directions, the report said. The Collector must pay within one month. If he does not, the State government will pay the amount and recover it from his salary. The money will go to the petitioner.

The case

The petitioner, Bhumika Rao, had applied for permission to use agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, under Section 65 of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879.

The Collector rejected her application in February 2025, pointing to past sales of the land, tenancy law and doubts about whether she was a farmer. On 2 March 2025, the High Court set that order aside. It said such applications are about how land is occupied and used, not about who owns it or how it changed hands, and told the Collector to decide again within the legal time limit.

Ms. Rao applied again in April 2025. On 6 August, the Collector rejected it a second time, citing objections from other departments and a planned appeal against the March judgment. The State later told the court that no such appeal had been filed.

What the court said

The court quashed the August order and told the Collector to decide the application in line with its March 2025 judgment, within the legal time limit. It refused to accept a later Revenue Department circular as a reason for not following the judgment.

Officials must carry out court orders on time, or go to a higher court if they have difficulty doing so, the court said.

The report did not name the Collector, and his response was not available.

What’s next

The Collector has one month to pay the costs and must decide Ms. Rao’s application afresh.