HC Directs the State To Consider the Establishment of Municipal Building Tribunal
Court asks govt to consider body for illegal construction, demolition cases
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday suggested that the state government consider establishing a municipal building tribunal to deal with disputes relating to permissions, alleged illegal constructions and demolition proceedings. The court noted that an amendment to the GHMC Act facilitated this a decade ago, but had not been acted upon
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin asked the government to look into this issue while hearing a writ appeal filed by Srinivas Yadav of Habsiguda and D.E. Nagaraju of Malakpet, who challenged the dismissal of their petition against the grant of building permissions.
The petitioners had earlier approached the High Court questioning the building permission granted on October 10, 2025, in favour of Radeshyam Constructions and Developers for construction of a building in Survey No.s 106 and 107 at Kothapet in Uppal mandal of Medchal–Malkajgiri district.
A single judge had dismissed the petition after observing that the municipal authorities had granted the permission only after the commissioner had prima facie verified the title and rights over the subject property. The court noted that the petitioners had failed to place convincing material to justify cancellation of the permission. Aggrieved by the order, the petitioners filed the writ appeal before the division bench.
During the hearing, the bench observed that a large number of cases relating to alleged illegal constructions, demolition notices and disputes over building permissions were being filed before the High Court. The court opined that the constitution of a dedicated tribunal with a presiding officer and a technical member could facilitate quicker adjudication of such disputes.
The noted that Section 462-A of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act, 1955, mandated the setting up of tribunals for handling unauthorised constructions. Though the amendment was made a decade ago to the GHMC Act to establish the tribunals, the government had not set up any such body. Moreover, in 2022, the High Court gave a time bond to the government to constitute the tribunal. However, this was not complied with.
The bench indicated that issues relating to grant or cancellation of building permissions and demolition proceedings could be effectively handled by such a specialised forum. Accordingly, the Chief Justice bench requested the Advocate General to place the issue before the state government and examine the feasibility of establishing a tribunal for these matters.
The Advocate-General informed the court that he would discuss the proposal with the government. The court adjourned the matter to April 15 for further hearing.
