High Court Orders Demolition of Encroachments at School Ground

Hyderabad:A two judge panel of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin ordered demolition of unauthorised constructions raised on a government school playground at Muthyampet in Kamareddy district. The panel also directed the principal secretary, panchayat raj, to initiate disciplinary action against Raj Kumar, then panchayat secretary, for issuance of fraudulent ownership certificates and permissions, and to submit a report on the action taken to the Registrar General of the High Court within six months. The panel was hearing a public interest litigation filed by K. Venkatalaxmi and another. The petitioners complained of inaction by the authorities in preventing construction of shops on land claimed to be government land earmarked decades ago for a Zilla Parishad High School and its playground. The petitioners contended that the constructions were raised on the playground on the strength of fabricated ownership certificates and house permissions allegedly issued by the gram panchayat in June 2022. It was contended that the land stood vested in the government and was consistently recorded as school land in revenue records. The panel also heard connected writ pleas filed by Muthagiri Roja, who challenged cancellation of the house permissions and notices directing stoppage of construction. After examining the revenue records, survey reports and official findings, the panel held that the land in question was recorded as government school land and that no valid building permission was granted in accordance with the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act. The panel noted that the alleged permissions were not processed through the mandatory online system, that no corresponding applications were traceable in the gram panchayat records, and that the plans were attested by an unauthorised surveyor. The panel placed reliance on the collector's order of February 2023, declaring the permissions void ab initio, and on a subsequent survey report confirming that the constructions fell within the school land. Holding that no lawful right, title or interest was established in favour of the private party, the panel dismissed the connected writ petitions, vacated all interim orders, and directed the authorities to demolish all unauthorised constructions, including the shops, within the playground. The panel further directed recovery of demolition costs from Muthagiri Roja as arrears of land revenue and ordered construction of a compound wall around the entire extent of the playground after proper demarcation.

Woman acquitted in murder case

The Telangana High Court set aside the life sentence imposed on a couple in a 2013 murder case, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. A two-judge panel comprising Justice K. Lakshman and Justice V. Ramakrishna Reddy allowed the criminal appeal filed by Kummari Padmamma and Kummari Anjaneyulu, acquitting Padmamma while noting serious inconsistencies in the prosecution evidence. The appeal arose from a judgment passed by the Special Sessions Judge-cum-VII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mahbubnagar, which convicted the appellants for the murder of Goda Chennamma and sentenced them to life imprisonment under the IPC. During the pendency of the appeal, Anjaneyulu died, resulting in the proceedings against him being treated as abated. According to the prosecution, the accused allegedly set the deceased on fire in the early hours of May 15, 2013, following a dispute arising out of her refusal to lease agricultural land. The prosecution case rested on two dying declarations purportedly made by the deceased, one before the police and another before a magistrate. The panel found material contradictions between the two declarations, particularly with respect to the roles attributed to the accused regarding who poured kerosene and who set the victim on fire. The panel noted that several key prosecution witnesses turned hostile and that the doctors who allegedly certified the deceased's mental fitness at the time of recording the dying declarations were not examined. The panel also noted serious lapses in the investigation, including procedural irregularities in recording statements, failure to send material objects for forensic analysis, and non-compliance with mandatory provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as crucial incriminating circumstances were not put to the accused during examination under provisions CrPC. Holding that the dying declarations did not inspire confidence and that the chain of circumstances was incomplete, the panel ruled that the conviction could not be sustained. Accordingly, the appeal was allowed, the conviction and sentence were set aside, and Padmamma was acquitted.

Demolition of New Bhoiguda temple stayed

Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy stayed the proposed demolition of the Kanaka Durga Amma temple at New Bhoiguda here. The judge took on file a writ petition filed by Putta Ravi and his son Putta Hemanth questioning the action of the GHMC and its officials without considering the explanation submitted by the petitioners. They contended that the proposed demolition was illegal, in violation of the principles of natural justice, contrary to the provisions of the GHMC Act and unconstitutional. The judge took judicial notice of the submission that the petitioners voluntarily dismantled their residential structure, which was in a dilapidated condition, and that no such condition existed in respect of the temple. The petitioners gave an undertaking before the judge that they would carry out necessary repairs to the temple and maintain it in a safe condition.

HC dismisses pleas challenging temple land order

Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar dismissed a writ plea filed by agriculturists from Malkapur in Chevella mandal challenging the occupancy certificate in favour of the Sri Balaji Venkateswara Swamy Temple in the town. The judge dealt with a writ plea filed by Seri Narayana Reddy and others. Earlier the unsuccessful writ petitioners moved the revenue divisional officer, Chevalla, aggrieved by the occupancy certificate given in favour of the temple. When the RDO confirmed the title of the temple they moved the joint district collector who rejected the claim. In his verdict on Tuesday, Justice Shravan Kumar after hearing Mangilal Niak, government pleader for endowments and perusing the revenue records, declared that the land of about 80 acres belonged to Sri Balaji Venkateswara Swamy Temple, Chevalla, and rejected the claim of the writ petitioners.