Telangana HC summons HMDA commissioner, official over building permission application
HYDERABAD: Justice T Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court has issued contempt of court notices and summoned HMDA Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmad and HMDA Planning Department Director-I K Vidyadhar Planning Department, HMDA to appear before the court on November 22, 2024 for failing to comply with orders to reconsider a building permission application.
The contempt case was filed by M/s Akshaya Developers, represented by its managing partner S Jeevan Reddy who alleged willful disobedience of the court’s order.
The court had earlier opined that the application was rejected based on a hyper-technical approach, reflecting a lack of application of mind by the planning department and directed the HMDA to reconsider the application, specifically instructing that the petitioner’s access to an old road leading to a service road should be considered, provided other objections were addressed.
The petitioner’s property is located in Dommara Pochampally village in Dundigal municipality, adjacent to a 40-ft wide inner road.
Justice Kumar criticised the authorities’ refusal to grant permission, commenting on the “lethargic and pick-and-choose” attitude of HMDA officials. He said that the petitioner, not being a person of political influence, was being unfairly targeted, with suggestions that the authorities were intentionally stalling the permission to pressure the petitioner into selling his property to politically connected individuals.
Justice Kumar further expressed his frustration with HMDA’s selective enforcement, pointing out that several other properties had been granted permissions with similar access to service roads. He accused the HMDA officials of “plucking hair on eggs,” a metaphor for making trivial objections to avoid complying with court orders previously affirmed by both a single judge and the division bench of the high court.