State to Object Order Against HYDRAA

Hyderabad:The state government will, in principle, oppose the Telangana High Court’s order issued on Monday to transfer senior IPS officer A.V. Ranganath from HYDRAA.

The government is understood to be of the view that the posting and transfer of officers fall purely within the executive domain, and that any specific direction from the court to retain or transfer an officer would amount to judicial overreach.

Official sources told Deccan Chronicle that the mode of raising objections and the appropriate legal forum would be decided once the state government received the single judge’s order.

Sources said the government would also file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the private firm Shanta Sriram, which, according to the government, had occupied government and military land.

“We have to examine the order and chalk out the future course of action,” sources said, adding that the government would decide whether to refrain from implementing the order or file an appeal before a division bench, depending on the contents of the single judge’s order. “The Chief Secretary will appeal before the division bench if the situation warrants,” the sources added.

The government has maintained that the private company claimed ownership of land in one survey number but was actually in possession of a different parcel of land belonging to the state government and military authorities.

HYDRAA contended that the land forms part of General Land Register (GLR) No. 243, situated within the Cantonment area and classified as Category B-2 government land measuring about 119.34 acres. The agency submitted that its officials had acted only after receiving a representation from the revenue department stating that the land belonged to the government, and that the intervention was carried out in that capacity.