Dispose of Bison Polo pleas at one go: Govt to court
M Sagar Kumar | TNN | Jan 4, 2019, 08:01 IST
(Representative image)HYDERABAD: The Centre has agreed to allot some portion of Bison Polo and Gymkhana grounds in Secunderabad to enable Telangana to construct its secretariat, assembly and other offices, the state government informed the high court on Thursday.
As several pleas questioning the state’s move to take over the two grounds for housing its offices are pending before the high court, the government is seeking a resolution of all the pleas at one go, Telangana’s additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao told a bench of Chief Justice TB Radhakrishnan and Justice A Rajasheker Reddy.
Urging the bench to post all such pleas for hearing together as a batch and resolve them, the additional AG said the Centre will be able to transfer the land if there is no pending litigation on the land.
The bench said it will take up all the pleas on January 29.
‘Existing bldgs sufficient to house state govt’s offices’
One of the pleas pending before the court on the issue was filed as a public interest petition by former DGP MV Bhaskar Rao, former cricketer Vivek Jayasimha, war veteran Anil Bhalla and chartered accountant Turlapati Bharadwaj, all residents of Secunderabad who have urged the court to protect the twin grounds in view of their historical and cultural importance. What Ramleela ground and Rajpath mean to Delhi, Bison Polo and Gymkhana grounds mean to Hyderabad, they said.
“We cannot think of people losing these grounds,” they said in their plea. The state wants to take over 33 acres of Bison Polo grounds and 22 acres of Gymkhana grounds for building a new secretariat, assembly as well as Kala Bharati, a culture centre.
The petitioners said that the existing buildings housing the secretariat and assembly are sufficient and the state should not be allowed to destroy the city’s lung space and the state’s cultural symbols. For Kala Bharati too, the existing cultural spaces like Hari Hara Kala Bhavan will be sufficient, they said. Charging the state government with doing all this due to unscientific Vastu beliefs, the petitioners said the courts should not allow destruction of huge facilities. They also found fault with the central government and its defence ministry, which has already given in-principle approval to Telangana to go ahead in the matter.
Tracing the history of these twin grounds, right from the British regime, which used them as military sports and training grounds, the petitioners urged the court to protect them and ensure that the authorities leave them as spaces for sports and cultural activities for the people. All major cities also have their historical landmarks and venues, whose preservation is not only vital from an aesthetic angle but also by environment and security dimensions, the petitioners said.
As several pleas questioning the state’s move to take over the two grounds for housing its offices are pending before the high court, the government is seeking a resolution of all the pleas at one go, Telangana’s additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao told a bench of Chief Justice TB Radhakrishnan and Justice A Rajasheker Reddy.
Urging the bench to post all such pleas for hearing together as a batch and resolve them, the additional AG said the Centre will be able to transfer the land if there is no pending litigation on the land.
The bench said it will take up all the pleas on January 29.
‘Existing bldgs sufficient to house state govt’s offices’
One of the pleas pending before the court on the issue was filed as a public interest petition by former DGP MV Bhaskar Rao, former cricketer Vivek Jayasimha, war veteran Anil Bhalla and chartered accountant Turlapati Bharadwaj, all residents of Secunderabad who have urged the court to protect the twin grounds in view of their historical and cultural importance. What Ramleela ground and Rajpath mean to Delhi, Bison Polo and Gymkhana grounds mean to Hyderabad, they said.
“We cannot think of people losing these grounds,” they said in their plea. The state wants to take over 33 acres of Bison Polo grounds and 22 acres of Gymkhana grounds for building a new secretariat, assembly as well as Kala Bharati, a culture centre.
The petitioners said that the existing buildings housing the secretariat and assembly are sufficient and the state should not be allowed to destroy the city’s lung space and the state’s cultural symbols. For Kala Bharati too, the existing cultural spaces like Hari Hara Kala Bhavan will be sufficient, they said. Charging the state government with doing all this due to unscientific Vastu beliefs, the petitioners said the courts should not allow destruction of huge facilities. They also found fault with the central government and its defence ministry, which has already given in-principle approval to Telangana to go ahead in the matter.
Tracing the history of these twin grounds, right from the British regime, which used them as military sports and training grounds, the petitioners urged the court to protect them and ensure that the authorities leave them as spaces for sports and cultural activities for the people. All major cities also have their historical landmarks and venues, whose preservation is not only vital from an aesthetic angle but also by environment and security dimensions, the petitioners said.
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