HC extends stay on demolition of Telangana secretariat till July 16

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday extended the temporary stay on demolition of buildings of the state secretariat till July 16.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy which was hearing a petition filed by Prof P L Vishweshwar Rao and Dr Cheruku Sudhakarhad on July 10 ordered a stay on the demolition till July 13.

Later, the stay was extended till July 15 directing the government to submit the state cabinet resolution on the demolition in a sealed cover. The petitioners alleged that the demolition of the present secretariat complex consisting of 10 blocks, approximately 10 lakhs Sq ft, was being done without following the due procedure of law.

The Government act is against the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules 2016, against the Provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and against the provisions of the Environment Protection Act 1986, among other laws, the petitioners alleged.

Telangana Advocate General informed the court that the state government has taken necessary permission from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for demolition. The court while extending the stay on Wednesday directed the Centre to submit a reply on its stand on the environmental issues with regards to the demolition of the secretariat complex.

The K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Government began razing to the ground the secretariat building complex on July 7, days aftertheHighCourtdismissed a bunch of PILs challenging the state's decision to construct a new secretariat complex by demolishing the existing one.

After the High Court cleared decks for the construction of the new secretariat, the demolition of the old secretariat building complex began and the foundation stone for the new one was laid on June 27, 2019. The state government earlier indicated that the new secretariat which would come up in about seven lakh sq ft would cost around Rs 400 crore and it had decided to equip the new one with state-of-the-art connectivity and other features.