Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday adjourned a PIL questioning the Telangana government's proposal to demolish the existing secretariat buildings to construct a new complex.
The court gave the government two weeks to file a counter- affidavit in the case.
Advocate General K Ramakrishna Reddi gave an undertaking that the government would not demolish the secretariat for two weeks while requesting the court to grant two weeks' time to file affidavit. The court recorded the undertaking and adjourned the matter.
The PIL alleged that government's plan involved demolition of heritage structures and it was a wasteful expenditure.
Telangana government is considering construction of a new secretariat. The 'Vastu-defects' in the existing complex was reportedly the reason for seeking to construct a new one.
TRS government in the state has come under flak from the Opposition over the proposal.
"The Chief Minister had constructed a new residence-cum-camp office for himself by spending nearly Rs 37 crore from the public exchequer. Now he wants to build a new secretariat by spending a whopping Rs 350 crore from tax payers' money.”
"Ours is a democratic and secular country and no one is allowed to impose his personal likes or dislikes on the people," Opposition Leader (Congress) in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir said in a letter to the Governor a few days ago.
Shabbir urged the Governor to stop the demolition of the existing Secretariat building.
