Telangana HC Stays Single-Bench Order To Remove Ranganath As HYDRAA Commissioner

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has stayed the July order of a single bench directing the Chief Secretary to relieve AV Ranganath from the post of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) commissioner and appoint a qualified person in his place, following a contempt of court case.

The petition was filed by Shanta Sriram Constructions Private Limited, challenging the demolition activities undertaken by HYDRAA on July 17 on 40 acres of land in Survey 1 and 2 of Lothukunta village under Malkajgiri Mandal.

A bench comprising Justice P Shyam Koshy and Justice Nandikonda Narsing Rao on Tuesday observed that while protecting government land is HYDRAA's responsibility, erecting fencing on disputed land without the rights being legally settled was inappropriate.

It stated that full details and court orders should be examined before taking such actions and advised the HYDRAA commissioner to exercise greater caution before entering lands involved in legal disputes.

Representing Ranganath, senior counsel and former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh, Rajiv Shakdher, argued that HYDRAA had erected fencing on July 18 as part of efforts to protect government land and the action was taken based on requests from officials, available records, and geo-coordinates.

Intervening, the bench asked, "Can the machinery simply move in and take action merely because a request was received from officials? Is there no need for a preliminary inquiry to check if there is any ongoing court dispute regarding that land?"

The bench opined that action should have been taken only after conducting a joint survey to determine the boundaries.

The counsel argued that the dispute had existed since 2012–13 and that the action was taken based on information received from the government.

He noted that the single judge had not provided an opportunity to submit full details regarding the case. "Punishments should be imposed strictly in accordance with the Contempt of Courts Act, and that the harsh penalty of removal from office was inappropriate, as it would leave a permanent blemish on the appellant's service record," he added.

Senior counsel Surender Rao representing Shanta Sriram argued that the officials had willfully violated the undertaking given to the court and demolished their structures.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench noted that the single judge, in its July 27 order, had reacted strongly to the violation of undertakings previously given to the court.

It observed that while the land boundary dispute is one aspect, the issue of whether there was a contempt of court orders needs to be examined separately. The matter has been posted for the next hearing on November 3.

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