The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered the suspension of a top police officer for not serving a warrant to an officer of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
The court said Chhindwara police chief Vinayak Verma must serve the warrant to NHAI Project Director D Anilkumar himself by April 19.
Mr Verma will remain suspended till further order, a bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra said.
The NHAI comes under the Road Transport and Highways Ministry of Nitin Gadkari.
The high court on March 28 ordered the top police officer to serve a bailable warrant against the NHAI officer.
During the court hearing today, the police officer's lawyer gave a letter on behalf of Mr Verma that the warrant could not be served as the NHAI Project Director has been transferred out of the area.
The NHAI had acquired 1,254 square feet of land at a bus stand in Chhindwara, 300 km from state capital Bhopal.
The people whose land was affected alleged they got only a part of the compensation for the loss of their land, and the NHAI is yet to pay the balance for at least 618 square feet.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2018 ordered for the full compensation to be paid. But when nothing happened, the petitioners moved for contempt of court against the NHAI officer.
After this, the court told Mr Verma to issue a warrant against the officer for not showing up despite repeated summons. Mr Verma, however, has been suspended for not serving the warrant.
