Telangana HC Notices to State on GHMC Merger Ordinances
The petition was filed by Barigala Raju, a resident of Tukkuguda municipality, who contended that there was no urgency for the issuance of ordinances relating to the mergers.
Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered notices to the state government in a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of three ordinances issued for the merger of surrounding municipalities and local bodies with the GHMC.
The panel comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G. M. Mohiuddin granted the government four weeks to file its response.
The petition was filed by Barigala Raju, a resident of Tukkuguda municipality, who contended that there was no urgency for the issuance of ordinances relating to the mergers. The petitioner stated that he was aggrieved by the manner in which the merger was effected.
He alleged that the impugned ordinances had far-reaching consequences on democratic representation, municipal governance, civic obligations, and the autonomy of local self-government institutions.
According to the petition, the ordinances enabled the mergers through legislative insertion and automatic inclusion, thereby eliminating earlier statutory safeguards such as consultation with the municipal corporations concerned and prior publication inviting objections from stakeholders. It was contended that this approach undermined the constitutional scheme governing local self-governance.
The petitioner also argued that the ordinances dismantled the existing governmental structure and were contrary to the constitutional principles of decentralisation and federal governance.