Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the government not to demolish any of the buildings in the Secretariat complex for 10 days. It asked the government to file an affidavit explaining the reasons for demolition of certain buildings in the complex.
Telangana advocate-general K. Ramakrishna Reddy said it was a policy decision of the government and was not only for vastu reasons. He told the court that some of the existing buildings did not meet fire safety norms. The state government proposed to demolish certain blocks and build new ones that had modern safety and security equipment.
He contended that the scope for judicial review of a policy decision was limited. The Madras and Karnataka High Courts had rejected challenges to the construction of new Secretariat complexes in those states, he pointed out.
The bench said, “If the decision to demolish all the buildings is based upon vastu then the court can examine it. But if the decision is based upon fire safety norms or other administrative reasons, it has a very limited scope.”
Referring to the argument that every act of the government has to be reasonable, the bench said that the test was whether the decision violated Article 14 of the Constitution of India or not.
When the petitioner pressed for an interim order, the A-G said demolitions would not commence immediately and urged the court to grant time to file a counter. Making it clear that no demolition would take place till November 14, the bench granted time to the A-G.
When petitioner’s counsel requested a stay on shifting of departments from the buildings identified for demolition, the bench refused and said the government was free to take that decision.
Telangana awaits court decision on secretariat complex
The TS government is waiting for the final outcome on the writ petition filed by Congress MLA T. Jeevan Reddy on demolition of the Secretariat blocks before it taking any steps.
The TS government has completed paperwork on the action plan for vacating the offices in the Secretariat, relocating them and for demolishing the existing buildings for the construction of new ones.
The government was finalising the orders on vacating the secretariat blocks when the Congress MLA filed his writ petition in the High Court, forcing the government to wait for the court’s decision.
Sources said that the fire services department and the JNTU have submitted reports to the state government on the condition of existing buildings. They said that these buildings are not safe in case of a fire.
The sources said that the government will include these reports in the counter petition it will submit before the court. Earlier, the TS government had decided to vacate the Secretariat buildings by the end of October so that work on the new complex can begin in November.
