Telangana High Court Grills HYDRAA Over Gachibowli Demolitions
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy wondered what the HYDRAA had to do in a housing colony which did not fall in the full tank level of a lake or on government land, and was purely private land.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday once again grilled HYDRAA, this time for the demolitions it carried out early in on Monday at the Fertilisers Corporation of India( FCI) Housing Society in Gachibowli, questioning the timing of the action. The constructions were made by Sandhya Conventions and its sister establishments, which are owned by S. Sridhar Rao and are located in Survey No.s 122, 123, 124 and 127 of Gachibowli.
Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy wondered what the HYDRAA had to do in a housing colony which did not fall in the full tank level of a lake or on government land, and was purely private land. The judge questioned the HYDRAA commissioner on whose instructions the demolitions were made. He pointed out that the GHMC and the HYDRAA had issued no-objection certificates to the building.
When the court was informed that the constructions were made by encroaching on the internal roads of the housing society, the judge asked who was responsible to mark the roads: The survey department or HYDRAA. The judge inquired with senior counsel L. Ravi Chander whether the HYDRAA could intervene in the matter of internal roads.
The judge was dealing with the contempt petitions filed by Sandhya Conventions Group against demolitions made by HYDRAA on Monday, despite the court orders to the agency to follow due procedure by issuing prior notice if the violations were found.
Senior counsels Prasad and Mayur Reddy representing HYDRAA pointed out that there was defenceless, wanton and brazen violation of court orders. The court questioned additional advocate-general Imran Khan what were the violations pointed out by the HYDRAA and what was the urgency to demolish the buildings before sunrise.
“Only on last Friday I had cautioned commissioner Ranganath that I do not want to see him in court again for contempt or violation of court orders. It is overzealousness against Sandhya Conventions? Is it difficult for him to wait for court orders,” Justice Reddy said.
The judge pointed out that no counter has been filed so far on the duties and powers of HYDRAA, in another petition. If HYDRAA did everything without statutory provision, it would be difficult, the judge said.
The court expressed displeasure over the submissions made by the additional advocate-general, who said that he had no instructions or information from HYDRAA on why the demolitions were carried out early on Monday. Counsels for the petitioners said it was a ploy as the demolitions took place more than 30 hours before.
Additional AG Khan while admitting assured the court that everything will be placed on record. “Even if there was something wrong, it will be put on paper,” he said.
The Judge then asked senior counsel L. Ravichander as to what objections would the plot-owners have if a survey was conducted. The judge asked all parties to stay away from the properties in question for a fortnight. He directed the parties to file details of sale agreements, LRS and building permissions and others.
The court directed the Additional AG to obtain by Thursday, reasons from HYDRAA for the demolitions. Till then, status quo has to be continued by both sides, he said.
