HYDERABAD: Making it clear that courts do not interfere in policy decisions of the government, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Monday said it was not inclined to entertain public interest litigations challenging the decision of the Telangana government to shift the TB and Chest Hospital from Erragadda to the TB Sanitorium at Anantagiri Hills near Vikarabad.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, was dealing with two PILs filed by BJP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy and Bakka Judson, secretary of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, questioning the decision of the Telangana government. The petitioners’ counsels submitted that the decision was without any rationale, valid reason or justification. The 75-year-old hospital, spread across 62 acres in the heart of the city with a bed strength of 670, was being shifted without prior study or consultations, they said.
While asking the petitioners to show ‘illegality’ in the GO, the Bench said, “It’s a policy decision of the government. Courts will intervene only if there is any illegality in it. The government has the power to take a decision without consulting anyone in public interest.”
The bench adjourned hearing on another PIL to next week as it relates to the heritage issue of the hospital.