Telangana High Court stays order to deploy armed forces to protect private land

Source: The Hindu Bureau

The Telangana High Court on Thursday ordered the deployment of armed forces to protect 40 acres of land belonging to a private company at Lothukunta village in Medchal-Malkajgiri district.

Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti later kept the order in abeyance until Friday after Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy informed the court that an affidavit would be filed stating that HYDRAA officials had not entered the private property. The judge initially stated that the armed forces contingent deployed at the site could take HYDRAA personnel into custody and produce them before the court if they entered the property again.

Background of the Case

The order, kept in abeyance for a day, was passed while hearing a contempt petition filed by M/s Shanta Sriram Constructions Private Limited in connection with Writ Petition No. 5049 of 2016.

• The petitioner contended that on July 18, HYDRAA officials trespassed onto the 40-acre land parcel at Lothkunta in nearly 50 vehicles.
• According to the petitioner, around 200 HYDRAA personnel damaged containers, chairs, tables, and office furniture belonging to the company while demolishing tin-sheet structures at the site, claiming that the land belonged to the government.

Court Proceedings

On July 21, the High Court summoned HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath, who appeared before the bench at around 5:30 p.m.

Though the Advocate General refuted the allegations made by the petitioner, the judge, citing photographs produced by the company, observed that HYDRAA officials, personnel, and police forces were present at the site. When the contempt petition came up for hearing on Thursday, the judge observed that HYDRAA vehicles had entered the private property.

The HYDRAA Commissioner was summoned to the High Court for allegedly failing to comply with the bench’s earlier order.

"Despite orders of the court, the officers are not mending their ways… This is interference in the administration of justice, which this court is taking serious note of," the judge said.

Deployment of Armed Forces

Dictating the order, the judge instructed the Registrar General of the High Court to speak with the senior brigadier of the Bison division and obtain a contingent of 10 Army personnel headed by an officer of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

"Though this court is conscious of the fact that Army forces cannot ordinarily be called in, this court has lost all faith in the State administration, as HYDRAA officers are venturing into the petitioner’s property," the judge observed.