Hyderabad: In an open defiance of the judiciary, Siddipet collector P. Venkatrama Reddy said he would not honour even the directions of the Supreme Court or the High Court against his decision to ban sale of paddy seeds in the district for the upcoming rabi season from November. The collector made these shocking comments in the meeting held with seed dealers and agriculture officials in Siddipet on Tuesday.
Reddy was earlier convicted for contempt of court by the Telangana High Court in March this year for wilful disobedience of the court’s interim order on land acquisition pertaining to Mallannasagar project. The court sentenced him to simple imprisonment for three months and a fine of Rs 2,000 apart from paying costs of Rs 25,000 to the petitioners.
In the meeting, Reddy warned dealers of severe consequences and jail terms and agriculture officials of suspension, if they disobeyed his orders banning paddy seed sales. "I will not accept even one kilogram of paddy seeds sold by anyone. If you sell, you will be sent to jail. I will cancel your shop
licences and seize shops. Even if dealers move to the Supreme Court and get orders to reopen shops, I will not allow shops to reopen. Even if a Supreme Court judge or High Court judge or political leaders issue orders to reopen shops, the shops will not reopen as long as I remain the collector under any circumstances. If dealers sell paddy seeds, agriculture officials concerned will be suspended." Reddy said.
The collector held this meeting to discuss measures to encourage farmers to opt for alternate crops in the place of paddy for rabi. The meeting comes against the backdrop of the state government's decision to discourage paddy cultivation in rabi after the Centre's Food Corporation of India refused to purchase boiled rice stocks produced in Telangana during rabi for public distribution system (PDS).
When contacted, the collector tried to justify his comments saying that they were meant to warn only those dealers indulging in sale of spurious seeds.
The collector's fiat to dealers and officials evoked sharp protests from Opposition parties. The BJP and the Congress leaders demanded action against the collector. BJP senior leader Gudur Narayana Reddy said the collector had been acting as extra constitutional power.
He demanded that the government immediately dismiss him from the services as he made comments which amounted to contempt of court openly. He said the collector ‘on the record’ declared that he would not care for orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court.
He said that the collector was bound by the Constitution and should respect the courts at any cost.
TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy said the collector was talking like a dictator. "How can a collector openly make such comments which amount to contempt of courts? By threatening seed dealers, he is blackmailing farmers not to opt for paddy."
Congress MLA T. Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy threatened to lay siege to the Siddipet collectorate if the collector failed to tender unconditional apologies for his remarks.
