HYDERABAD:The High Court on Friday rapped the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for placing dustbins overflowing with garbage in front of the tax defaulters’ properties, calling such acts “uncivilised.” It directed the civic body to remove all illegally placed dustbins.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice Sanjay Kumar, was dealing with a petition filed by J Anil Kumar, a businessman from Regimental Bazar in Secunderabad, who complained against the unlawful practice of the GHMC and the dustbin in front of his shop. He informed the court that the authorities had resorted to this action despite the fact that he had cleared all his outstanding dues.
Taking a serious view of the issue, the Chief Justice told the GHMC counsel that the action of the authorities was an offence. “No law permits you (GHMC) to do this. Even if any law allows such cheap practices, we shall strike it down. We shall ask a magistrate to prosecute your commissioner”, he warned. The petitioner’s counsel told the bench that the GHMC had given them a ‘no dues certificate’ on the one hand and raising unjust demands for payment of property tax on the other. The bench told the GHMC counsel, “Your job is to remove garbage and ensure that diseases do not spread. Instead, you are behaving opposite to it. You have no power to do this. There are other methods of recovery and certainly not this type of unlawful ones.”
When the bench was told that the dustbin was still in place in front of the petitioner’s shop, the Chief Justice gave the GHMC an hour to tell the civic authorities to remove it and inform the court. “Otherwise, we will get it removed by the police and also launch an inquiry”, the bench said. After one hour, the GHMC counsel informed the court that the dustbin was removed. The bench observed that no civilized society would resort to such unheard of practices. The bench adjourned the case to next week for further hearing.