In a significant development, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Wednesday made it clear to the State government that it cannot demolish Errum Manzil as such buildings are protected under Section 6 of General Clauses Act of the Centre and Section 5 of Telangana General Clauses Act. If the court had passed orders without mention of the above section, then there was scope for the Supreme Court to point out the state High Court on this issue, the bench observed.
Further, the bench said that though Regulation 13 was deleted from the HMDA Act, the 135 heritage buildings which were identified earlier cannot be touched upon without prior permission. Protection to Errum Manzil building would continue under the Heritage Protection Act. The bench directed the government counsel to come prepared for an explanation on Section 6 of the General Clauses Act by Monday.
During the course of hearing, the bench expressed its displeasure with the petitioners’ counsels and those representing the government for not bringing to its notice about Sec 6 of the General Clauses Act. Even the government’s action for deletion of Regulation 13 from HMDA Act, vide GO 183, was not correct, the bench said. The bench posted the matter to July 22 for further hearing.
Elections to four municipalities stayed
Lapses in delimitation exercise in municipalities was resulting in stay of election. On Wednesday, the Telangana High Court has stayed elections to Mahbubnagar, Miryalaguda, Meerpet and Bandlaguda Jagir municipalities until due process was followed in respect of delimitation exercise of the respective municipalities.
Justice P Naveen Rao was passing this interim order in petitions filed separately seeking to declare the draft publication of wards and the procedure adopted by the municipal commissioners concerned for division and delimitation of the said municipalities as illegal and ultra vires to the Telangana Municipalities Act and the Rules thereunder. The petitioners pointed out that their objections were not considered in respect of finalisation of wards in the municipalities. The judge admitted the petitions and issued notices to the authorities concerned to respond on the issue.
HC dismisses plea of former MLC Bhoopathi
In a setback to former TRS MLC R Bhoopathi Reddy, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by him challenging his disqualification from the MLC post by the Legislative Council chairman in Jan this year. The bench said that it did not find any illegality in the orders passed by the Council chairman in disqualifying Bhoopathi Reddy and that there were no merits to allow the petition filed by him. The bench was dismissing the petition of Bhoopathi Reddy who sought to suspend the order passed disqualifying him from the MLC post.
The State additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao, appearing for the Council chairman, submitted relevant records before the court to prove that Bhoopathi Reddy had taken the primary membership in TRS party and his activities attracted Anti Defection Law.