A single-judge bench of Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar came down heavily on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of the state during a hearing on the matter of realisation of the penalty of Rs 5.2 crore imposed on the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The penalty was imposed for causing massive damage to public property during a strike called by the outfit after it was banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The government, however, contended that the procedure takes time. It said that the Revenue Department had written to the District Collectors, under the Revenue Recovery Act to identify all the movable and immovable properties.

After this a requisition authority would have to be formed and that would then submit requisitions to the collectors.

In the days after the ban, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that there should be no undue haste in acting against the PFI.

Justice Nambiar however said that the attitude of the state government was callous and nothing substantial was done by it in the past three months to recover the amount.

He ordered the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department to personally present himself in the Court on 23 December with a sworn affidavit that would have the timeline for recovering the amount of Rs 5.2 crore.

He also added that the time for recovery of the amount would not be extended beyond 31 January under any circumstances as it was a serious matter, involving destruction of public property.

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