HYDERABAD: The High Court on Monday expressed displeasure at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for not filing a compliance report with regard to the action taken by it to remove encroachments on footpaths.
A division bench comprising chief justice KJ Sengupta and justice PV Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a petition filed by Laxminivas Agarwal, a resident of Mahboobgunj, seeking removal of illegal encroachments and unauthorised constructions on road margins in Siddiambar Bazar and Mahboobgunj.
On December 15 last year the bench had directed the GHMC to remove illegal encroachments on road margins in the two areas.
The court had suggested to the GHMC and the city police to make a public announcement on TV or public address system in the areas everyday and warn the shop-keepers and others against wrongful use of the pavement. Despite such warning, if anyone used the pavement then it would be open to the GHMC, with the help of police, to remove those articles and take possession. While disposing of the plea then, the bench had directed the GHMC to report compliance in two weeks after the Sankranti vacation.
When this petition came up for hearing on Monday, the counsel for GHMC urged the court to grant a week’s time to file the report.
Expressing its displeasure, the bench wondered whether the GHMC had taken into consideration the suggestions given by the court on removal of encroachments. The counsel replied that GHMC officials had already taken up a drive for eviction of the encroachers and urged the bench to grant time to file the report.
While granting the time, the bench cautioned that if the authorities failed to report compliance by the next date of hearing, it would issue suo motu contempt proceedings against the officers concerned.
