HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court came to the rescue of fruit commission agents by halting the ongoing demolition of Gaddiannaram Fruit Market buildings by the State government on Tuesday. The fruit commission agents sounded an SOS to the High Court by filing a contempt petition against the government for razing the buildings with the help of bulldozers on which the court acted immediately and issued a direction to the government against going any further in pulling down the buildings, which began on Monday night.
On April 4, the High Court ordered the State government to reopen the fruit market to enable the merchants to shift to Batasingaram Logistics Park, after taking a serious exception to the government not complying with its earlier order to this effect. It directed the marketing officials to reopen the market immediately and also show proof that they had carried out its order. But, out of the blue, on Monday night police personnel deployed in large numbers began forcefully evicting the traders by resorting to lathi-charge.
The police themselves moved 300-odd trucks to Batasingaram market throughout the night.“As soon as they started lathi-charge, we all were scared and ran away from there. The police then had the market demolished. They did not even heed the court’s orders. The government’s goonda raj is in force. What business do the police have to move the vehicles and oversee the demolition,” asked Md Tajuddin, president of one of the market’s fruit market associations.
After senior counsel for the petitioners (commission agents) Gangaiah Naidu explained the ongoing demotion, the High Court directed the State government to stop the demolitions and allow the traders to get inside the market and shift their belongings to Batasingaram.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili, adjourned the contempt case to March 14. The High Court further directed that Lakshmi Bai, Director of Agriculture Marketing, and Raghunandan Rao, Principal Secretary to Government, Agriculture Marketing Department to remain present before the court.
The senior counsel for the petitioners informed the court that one month’s time given by the court was due to expire on Tuesday, but the authorities opened the gates of the fruit market on March 4 on the directions of this court in a contempt case.
The officials gave just three days to shift, which is unfair. Counsel informed that criminal cases have been filed against the commission agents and others who tried to get inside the market to collect their belongings. The demolition commenced on Monday midnight with the help of 500 policemen.
After hearing the contentions of the petitioners, the bench repeatedly commented that “it is very unfortunate”.