Tuesday, 28 September 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Construction of modern veterinary hospital ordered by HC in 2018 still pending
Following their failure to follow the Uttarakhand High Court orders regarding establishment of a state of the art veterinary hospital in Dehradun, chief secretary SS Sandhu, Animal Husbandry secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram and Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) vice chairman Brijesh Kumar Sant have been served a legal notice for initiating contempt proceedings by People For Animals (PFA) trustee Gauri Maulekhi.
The notice served by Maulekhi’s advocate states that it concerns non-compliance of the high court judgement passed in October 2018 in the case Gauri Maulekhi versus the State of Uttarakhand and others. She had filed the matter seeking immediate construction of a state of the art veterinary hospital in Dehradun with advanced and modern diagnostic and healthcare facilities. The previous veterinary hospital had been demolished in 2008 after which there has been a conspicuous lack of any competent veterinary infrastructure/hospital in the state. In its judgement, the high court had directed that “respondent number three is directed to construct a state of the art veterinary hospital at Transport Nagar in Dehradun within a period of two years from today or alternatively, pay a sum of Rs 12.24 crore to the respondent- State for construction of the said veterinary hospital in Dehradun.”
Despite the strict mandate of the court and passage of about three years, the veterinary hospital has not been constructed in Dehradun. Maulekhi’s advocate states that the noticees have shown no sign of complying with the directions of the high court, in an utterly contemptible manner. Maulekhi has warned the chief secretary, Animal Husbandry secretary and MDDA of filing contempt case against them in case of their protracted failure to comply with the high court orders.
