Court orders arrest of IAS Officer for failure to provide possession of plot to allottee

The Gautam Budh Nagar district consumer forum has ordered the arrest of Mayur Maheshwari, the CEO of the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA), in connection with a 22-year-old case. The case stems from UPSIDA’s failure to give possession of an industrial plot in Surajpur to an allottee, despite multiple court orders over the years.
The allottee, Mahendra Kumar H Advani, was granted the 800-square-meter industrial plot in 1989. However, UPSIDA canceled the plot in 1998 due to non-payment of instalments and other reasons. Advani challenged this cancellation in 2001 by filing an appeal in the district consumer forum. On October 22, 2003, the forum ruled in his favor, ordering UPSIDA to restore the plot without any additional charges and imposed a fine of ₹12,000 on the authority.
Despite the ruling, UPSIDA appealed the decision to the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which upheld the district forum’s decision on July 3, 2019. The state commission directed UPSIDA to return the plot to Advani. UPSIDA then appealed to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in New Delhi, which on August 7, 2023, reaffirmed the earlier rulings and ordered UPSIDA to restore the plot within a month and pay the ₹12,000 fine.
However, UPSIDA failed to comply with the final directive. By the time of the hearing, Advani had passed away, and his wife, Pushpa Advani, continued to pursue the case. In January 2024, Advani’s lawyer, Pravesh Nagar, filed an application with the Gautam Budh Nagar district consumer forum, highlighting UPSIDA’s ongoing non-compliance.
On January 22, 2025, the consumer forum noted that the complainant (Pushpa Advani) was present, but UPSIDA was not represented. The forum then issued a bailable warrant for the arrest of Mayur Maheshwari, ordering him to provide a ₹50,000 bail bond and a surety of the same amount. If Maheshwari secures bail, he must appear before the forum on February 28, 2025.
The consumer forum also directed the Kanpur district police commissioner to execute the arrest warrant, as UPSIDA’s office is located there. The order stated that Maheshwari could be released on bail if he complied with the bail conditions.
In response to the order, Maheshwari said, “We are yet to receive a signed copy of this order. But we are aware that this is a very old case, dating back to 2003, and it is still pending in higher courts. We will follow the court’s orders and take the necessary actions.”
This case has drawn attention due to the long delay in resolving the matter and UPSIDA’s repeated failure to comply with multiple court rulings. The next hearing is scheduled for February 28, 2025.