HC Hears PIL on WW-II Memorial Relocation Near Parade Ground
The petition, filed as a PIL, was at the scrutiny stage following registry objections. The court observed that the petitioner should first approach the authorities before seeking judicial intervention.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court declined to intervene in a public interest litigation alleging proposed demolition of a World War II memorial near Parade Ground in Secunderabad for an elevated corridor project.
The court recorded submissions of the state that the memorial was not being demolished and that proposals were under consideration to relocate it, with discussions involving HMDA, the Cantonment Board and defence authorities. The state counsel assured that the structure would not be disturbed until a final decision is taken.
The bench directed petitioner J. Rama Krishna to submit a detailed representation to the concerned authorities regarding his grievance.
The petition, filed as a PIL, was at the scrutiny stage following registry objections. The court observed that the petitioner should first approach the authorities before seeking judicial intervention.
Supreme Court Rejects 600-Acre Private Land Claim; Paves Way for Reserve Forest in Telangana
Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a long-pending civil appeal by private parties claiming ownership over about 600 acres of land in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, proposed to be included in a reserve forest.
The land forms part of 787 acres in Survey No. 81 of Kalvalanagaram village, which was notified for inclusion as reserve forest through a Gazette notification dated February 6, 1950 under Section 7(1) of the Hyderabad Forest Act.
The appellants, led by Vadiyala Prabhakar Rao, claimed that their predecessors had been granted pattas by the Nizam of Hyderabad between 1931 and 1932. They relied on revenue records, including Faisal Patti, Vasool Baqi and pahanies, to support their claim. The matter had been litigated before revenue authorities, the High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court.
A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and S.V.N. Bhatti upheld the findings of the Telangana High Court Division Bench and the earlier order of the joint collector, Khammam, rejecting the claims.
The court noted that the appellants failed to produce original pattas or primary title documents. It also recorded that the claimants were not in physical possession of the land for several decades and that the property remained uncultivated with forest growth.
The Bench further observed that the claimants did not establish the chain of title from the original pattadars to the present appellants. Revenue records for 1954-55 described the land as deserted and covered with thick forest. The court dismissed the appeal, affirming the rejection of the private claims.
HC gives MLAs five weeks in defection case
Hyderabad: Ten Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators accused of defecting to the ruling Congress on Wednesday sought more time before the Telangana High Court to submit their contentions in petitions challenging the Assembly Speaker’s decision on disqualification pleas.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G. M. Mohiuddin granted the request, allowing the MLAs five additional weeks to file counter‑affidavits, citing the intervening summer vacation. Petitioners were given one more week thereafter to file replies. The matter will be heard on June 25.
BRS leaders K. P. Vivekananda, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, K. T. Rama Rao and others, along with BJP floor leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, had filed petitions challenging the Speaker’s dismissal of disqualification pleas against the ten MLAs, alleged to have switched allegiance after the 2023 Assembly polls.
Earlier, the court had directed the respondent MLAs to file counters by May 6 after granting six weeks’ time for responses and rejoinders. On Wednesday, their counsels sought further extension, which the court allowed.
