A bench of the Telangana High Court on Friday ordered the State to submit the most recent report on the Hill Fort Palace by January 10, 2023. The bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy heard a PIL by the Hyderabad Heritage Trust urging the court to direct the State government to take steps to restore and save the historic Hill Fort Palace.
MAUD Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar, R&B and Tourism and Culture Secretary KS Sreenivasa Raju, Finance Secretary TK Sreedevi, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, Telangana Tourism MD B Manohar Rao, and HMDA Director (Planning) S Bala Krishna appeared in person before the court as per its order. However, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar was allowed exemption from personal appearance as he has to attend the Neeti-Ayog meeting.
Advocate General BS Prasad told the court that the State government was constantly monitoring the conservation and maintenance of heritage structures.
The court subsequently asked the defendants to be present in person on the next date of hearing. The bench, however, exempted the physical presence of Somesh Kumar, Arvind Kumar and Sreenivasa Raju.