Hyderabad: The month-long arguments in the eight public interest litigations opposing the proposed demolition of Errum Manzil concluded on Wednesday in the Telangana High Court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Shameem Akhter, which was hearing the cases daily since
July 8 in the post-noon session, on Wednesday reserved its judgment on the issue.
On the last day of arguments, the government has furnished two master plans of HMDA to provide clarity on whether Errum Manzil was marked as a ‘special reservation zone (SRZ)’ or not.
Mr A. Sanjeev Kumar, special counsel for the Telangana state government, furnished the master plan prepared in 2010 and pointed out that Errum Manzil was shown under the special reservation zone. Afer the deletion of Regulation 13 through GO Ms. No. 183 in 2015, Errum Manzil was no longer treated as a SRZ. He said no new master plan had been prepared since.
Justice Chauhan said “Once Errum Manzil is shown as a special reservation zone, it continues to exist as a special reservation zone and this is the critical. The Master Plan 2010 still holds the field.”
Asking how the state had been preparing the new master plan with deleted SRZ without taking objections from the citizens, Justice Chauhan said the government had claimed differently at various times.
“There is no doubt that the state government does have the power to make laws and rules, but it should ensure that those rules are in consonance with the law and the statute,” Justice Chauhan said.
Defending the state’s action in repealing Regulation 13, Mr Kumar said there were seven master plans and all of them are in existence. The Master Plan 2010 dealt with areas falling under the GHMC and the Master Plan 2031 (prepared in 2013) dealt with the extended area beyond the the Outer Ring Road.
Mr Desai Prakash Reddy, senior counsel appearing for one of the petitioner, said that whenever the state government took a major decision, objections have to be obtained from citizens and considered before taking a final decision. On Errum Manzil the Cabinet had taken a decision unilaterally to demolish Errum Manzil without going into the consequences. The decision of the Cabinet was vitiated, he said.
