HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday prima facie held that the demolition of compound walls by HYDRAA on plots in the approved Vani Cooperative Housing Society in Survey Nos. 194/1 and 211 of Medchal-Malkajgiri district amounted to contempt of court. It questioned whether officials were “running a parallel government” by carrying out demolitions without proper verification or authority.
Justice NV Shravan Kumar directed the Registry to issue notices in suo motu contempt proceedings and questioned the authorities on the basis for the demolitions.
The Medchal-Malkajgiri collector and tahsildars of Alwal and Malkajgiri, who appeared before the court, said they had not issued any letters or directions authorising the demolitions. The court questioned under whose authority the structures were demolished and observed that officials could not act arbitrarily in the name of protecting government land without proper verification.
The court also questioned whether officials were taking the law into their own hands and “running a parallel government”. It expressed concern that authorities were being compelled to appear before courts to justify demolitions carried out without supporting records, thereby wasting judicial time.
The proceedings arose from a petition filed by P Linga Rao and six others challenging the demolition of compound walls around their plots on July 18 without notice.
Government Pleader Katram Muralidhar Reddy submitted that Survey No. 194 comprised 12 acres of patta land, of which 4 acres had allegedly vested in the government under urban land ceiling laws. However, the court noted that the records did not show that notices had been served on the petitioners as required.
The court also questioned HYDRAA on how it concluded that the land was government property when government surveyors had not participated in the exercise. It asked why HYDRAA had not filed a counter in the contempt proceedings.
Observing that court orders had existed since 2022, the court said the demolitions carried out without appropriate orders appeared, prima facie, to constitute contempt.
HYDRAA submitted that 30-40 demolitions had been carried out in the Malkajgiri area. The court directed the collector to submit a detailed report, including details of court orders and permissions relating to the demolitions.
