HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Thursday once again extended its stay on the demolition of the old Secretariat buildings till Friday.On July 10, it had directed the State to stop the demolition and later extended it twice, in its interim orders.
The court directed the Centre to inform it on Friday if the State government requires permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to demolish the buildings. It also sought clarification from the Ministry regarding the interpretation of "preparation of land".
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, passed this order in a PIL filed by Prof PL Vishweshwar Rao, vice-president of the Telangana Jana Samithi, and Cheruku Sudhakar of the Telangana Inti Party. Pursuant to the court’s earlier direction, Advocate General (AG) BS Prasad and the petitioners' counsel, Chikkudu Prabhakar, submitted certain documents and case laws.
The AG submitted that the words "construction activity" and "preparation of land" have to be read co-jointly. “Preparation of land” does not mean demolishing the standing structure or clearing the land for new construction, he argued. Prabhakar contended that "preparation of land" would include demolition of the standing structure as no future construction can be raised until and unless the standing structures are demolished and levelled.
When the bench sought a reply from Assistant Solicitor General of India N Rajeshwar Rao, he submitted that he has not received any clarification from the MoEF with regard to the interpretation of the words. It posted the matter to Friday. Meanwhile, Congress MP A Revanth Reddy moved the NGT, Southern Zone, challenging the demolition. The government’s counsel informed about the interim stay. The NGT adjourned the case to Monday.