HYDERABAD: Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti of the Telangana High Court has requested the Telangana Chief Secretary to identify a suitable officer to head the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), observing that the present Commissioner, A.V. Ranganath, IPS, has repeatedly flouted court orders.
Hearing a contempt case relating to a 40-acre parcel of land at Lothkunta involving a private construction company, the Court noted that HYDRAA officials allegedly entered the property despite subsisting judicial restraint orders.
The Court also took note of the fact that as many as 63 contempt cases are reportedly pending against the HYDRAA Commissioner before the High Court during his one-and-a-half-year tenure, terming the situation a matter of grave concern.
Expressing strong displeasure over the functioning of HYDRAA, Justice Jukanti requested the Chief Secretary to find a suitable officer to head the agency in place of the present Commissioner, underscoring the need to ensure compliance with judicial orders and uphold the rule of law.
The observations came during proceedings in the ongoing contempt case concerning the Lothkunta land dispute, where the Court is examining allegations of wilful disobedience of its earlier directions.