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Judgment
Vibhu Bakhru, J.—The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, seeking exemption from his personal appearance before the District Judge hearing an appeal under Section 9 of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 against an order passed by the petitioner under Section 5 of the said Act. A perusal of the impugned order dated 30-9-2014 indicates that the respondent had challenged the jurisdiction of the petitioner to act as an estate officer as it was contended that a notification under Section 3 of the said Act had not been issued. Therefore, the District Judge had called upon the petitioner to appear in person and file an affidavit to explain the position regarding the formal conferment of power as an Estate Officer. A personal appearance of a statutory authority, whose jurisdiction is challenged is, ordinarily, not warranted.
The learned counsel for the petitioner states that a comprehensive affidavit on the question shall be filed by the petitioner before the District Judge within one week from today.
In view of the above statement, the impugned order, insofar as it directs the personal appearance of the petitioner, is set aside.
It is clarified that nothing stated herein should be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the dispute and if the District Judge requires the personal appearance of the petitioner he would be at liberty to pass an appropriate order detailing the reasons for the same. The petition is disposed of with the aforesaid direction.