The Kerala High Court has ordered the arrest of Muvattupuzha Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) V.E. Abbas for failure to comply with the court’s order to reconsider an application to remove a parcel of land from the data bank for land conversion.

A Single Bench of Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan directed the Station House Officer, Muvattupuzha, to arrest Mr. Abbas and produce him before the court. It also ordered that Mr. Abbas could be released on bail if he executed a bond stating that he was ready to appear on his own.

The court further said that Mr. Abbas should not be represented by a government pleader but must engage his own counsel. His appearance before the court could be dispensed with if he files an affidavit showing reasons for his refusal to remove the land parcel from the data bank.

The High Court had ruled that an application for land conversion should only be rejected through an order explaining sufficient grounds. Earlier, the court had set aside an order by Mr. Abbas dismissing the application for land conversion and instructed him to reconsider the same as per law. The court noted that even though its order was communicated to the officer, he had not taken any action on it.