The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the Maharashtra Government’s steps to ensure timely disposal of public grievances by Zilla Parishads. The Court said issuing circulars would not help unless there was a proper system to implement them and action was taken against officials who failed to follow the directions. A Division Bench of Justice Anil L Pansare and Justice Nivedita P Mehta was hearing a batch of 14 petitions concerning delays in deciding representations submitted to the authorities. The cases included grievances against the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad, Yavatmal. The Court noted that one representation had been pending since May 7, 2025. In an earlier order dated August 31, the Bench had expressed concern over public servants failing to decide representations despite repeated directions from the Court.

 

Senior State officials had assured the Court that pending matters would be cleared immediately. Chief Executive Officers of Zilla Parishads were also directed to hold review meetings every Monday to ensure that no representation remained pending. The Court had asked senior officials to develop an effective system so that people would not have to approach the judiciary and spend time and money to get their grievances addressed. In response, Principal Secretary Atul Nilkanthrao Patne filed an affidavit stating that the State Government had issued a circular on September 11, 2026, with guidelines for clearing pending files. However, the Bench was not satisfied with this explanation. It observed that a mechanism could not be called effective unless it clearly specified the consequences of failing to follow the circular and ensured its proper implementation.

 

The Court pointed out that Section 10 of the Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005, had remained ineffective despite coming into force in 2025. The Bench stressed that the focus should be on implementing the law and government directions rather than merely issuing circulars. It asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Services), Principal Secretary (Administrative Reforms and Organisation) and Secretary, Rural Development Department, to take further steps to address the issue. The matter will be considered again after the Diwali vacation. Adv A S Lanjewar represented the petitioners, AGP S B Bissa and Adv M G Rathi for respondents.