Citizens remember, now in case you are found destroying Public Property, government may recover damages from you by filing Civil case of recovery suit and may attach properties in execution if found guilty.

But how will they prove it? Well that’s a challenge and surely based on the evidence adduced. Recovery cases are long drawn litigations need to be filed within 3 years from date of occurrence, so that rule of limitation applies. The most important thing is court fee before filing the case on amount being claimed.

So will the UP government pay court fees for recovery case, yet has to be seen.

Property Damage as Recovery Case
Property Damage as Recovery Case

Let’s have the facts first

The Additional District Magistrate of Meerut Ajay Tiwari declared that the process of recovering money from those people involved is destroying public property will be handled like any other civil issue. This decision came after almost 140 people were charged with destroying public property during the violence which took place amidst the protests against the new Citizenship Amendment Act on December 20 which left five people dead. The ADM demanded almost Rs 25,000 each from the 140 people involved. The magistrate said that the process of recovery has been initiated and if the police is satisfied prima facie that an individual was involved in destroying public property, a notice directing the person to show cause withing seven days has been issued.

A show cause notice is a court order where the person or party to whom the notice has been issued to is required to appear before the court and explain why a certain course of action by the court should not be taken against them. If the person or party fails to convince the court or even fails to appear, the respective course of action is taken. The magistrate further added that even though seven days is the limit to show cause, if the person or party requests the court, a reasonable extension may be given. By law, a show cause notice has to be served in person, wherever possible meaning the person or party to whom the notice has been issued to has to be present.

The notice can also be served through the next of kin or if none of the above options are possible, it can be served by placing an advertisement in a newspaper. As of January 3, 2020, no response to the show cause notice issued by the ADM has been received. According to the magistrate, like in all civil cases a balance of probability will be kept in mind in accordance to the Civil Procedural Code. The accused is allowed to bring a lawyer and witnesses in order to make a case that they were not involved in destruction of property. The amount of loss of property is not the only factor which is taken into consideration while holding those who cause damage responsible. There are various other factors that are taken into account and the proportion of damages to be recovered from a particular person is only determined after a detailed hearing.

The magistrate pressed on the importance of punitive liability saying that it is important to recover damages for the tax payer as the tax payer is the one who would borne all the damages if it is not recovered from the actual perpetrators. The estimated damages to be recovered as calculated by the PWD, Nagar Nigam, Meerut Development Authority and Road Transport Office for police is at Rs 40.87 lakhs. These are only estimated figures and a more detailed investigation will be carried out to ascertain the amount of damages and after a thorough and detailed investigation, damages will be recovered in proper proportions.

Rest for any civil case specific advice, one can contact Top/Best/Expert Civil Lawyer in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Kharar Derabassi Zirakpur etc.

This post is written by Aradhya Singh. For more info dial 99888-17966.