HYDERABAD: In a strong rebuke to illegal builders, the Telangana High Court has directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to seal a multi-storey building in the Old City of Hyderabad and ordered inspections of ongoing constructions in Siddambar Bazaar and Begum Bazaar, warning that the self-certification system cannot be misused to bypass building regulations.
The Telangana High Court expressed serious concern over unauthorised constructions in the two locations and directed the GHMC to take stringent action against violations of building regulations.
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, hearing a writ petition filed by Raj Kumar, observed that the self-certification facility for obtaining building permissions could not be misused to circumvent mandatory setbacks and other planning norms.
The court noted that while the petitioner claimed ownership of 114.14 square yards, building permission had been sought for only 43.29 square metres, while applications for the remaining portion were submitted in the names of third parties. The petitioner had allegedly failed to satisfactorily explain his connection with those applications.
According to the GHMC, the structure was originally an old, dilapidated ground-plus-one-floor building. Despite showcause notices and an opportunity for a personal hearing, additional floors were constructed without valid final building permission and without maintaining the prescribed setbacks. The building was subsequently expanded to ground plus five or six floors.
The court observed that a plot measuring 114.14 square yards could permit only ground plus two floors under the applicable regulations. It made it clear that a construction that could not have been legally sanctioned could not be regularised.
The judge directed GHMC officials to detect and prevent unauthorised constructions at the initial stage and inspect buildings under construction in Siddambar Bazaar and Begum Bazaar. The court also directed that building permissions be prominently displayed at construction sites and ordered the GHMC to seal the petitioner’s building and submit a compliance report before the next hearing.