Telangana High Court Gives Govt Last Chance in Lake Cases
Bench warns of Rs 5,000 cost per plea if affidavits are delayed
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday granted the state government and the departments concerned one last chance to place their counter-affidavits in a batch of cases seeking protection of water bodies. The affidavits must be filed within two weeks, the court said, adding that failure to comply would attract costs of Rs5,000 per petition.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin was dealing with a batch of connected matters, including four public interest litigations, relating to the protection of Malkam Cheruvu at Raidurg; Krindikunta at Hydernagar, Kukatpally; Chinnacheruvu at Ramanthapur; and Ameenpur lake in Sangareddy district. The petitions call for directions to stop encroachments, prevent dumping of construction debris and soil, and curb the discharge of industrial effluents into lakes.
Special counsel informed the court that counters had not been filed in three cases and requested an additional two weeks to do so. He submitted that in the remaining matters, counter-affidavits had either been filed or the stand taken in connected cases would be adopted.
Considering this, the bench granted two weeks to file the remaining counters, permitted the petitioners to submit their replies, and directed all parties to place their written submissions on record at least three days prior to the next hearing.
