HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday rapped Telangana and AP governments for not acting on its orders to remove unauthorised statues and flexis of leaders and celebrities from public places and warned that the court will act if they fail to take immediate action in this regard.
It set a two-day deadline for both the governments to file status reports on action taken thus far. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, was dealing with a petition filed by S Murali Krishna of Prakasam district in 2008 challenging digging of pits for installation of a statue on a platform by encroaching 15 ft on the road leading from National Highway No.5 to the villages of Mukthinuthalapadu and Gudimillapadu.
The bench had on Dec 26 last year directed officials of the two governments to identify and remove all unauthorised installations from public places. It had also ruled that both the States must ensure that a GO issued in this regard on Feb 18, 2013 was not violated.
When the matter came up for hearing, the petitioner complained that authorities had failed to comply with the court’s directives. Taking the issue seriously, the bench said if the governments were unable to initiate steps, the court will act on its own. A panel with judicial officers will be formed to look into the matter, if the governments fail to submit status reports, it said and posted the matter to March 25 for further hearing.