Contempt case: GHMC asked to deposit 50% of dues with Telangana HC

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the GHMC to deposit 50 per cent of the compensation payable to a property owner, with the court in order to put forward its version in a contempt case filed by an aggrieved landowner.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S Nanda gave this interim direction while hearing a contempt case filed by Mohammad Kazam Ali of Raidurg in Serlingampally mandal of Rangareddy district. The GHMC laid the road through his open plot at Naga Hills in Raidurg.

The bench determined during a recent session that the GHMC officials were presumptively attempting to escape their obligations, and as a result, ordered T Venkanna, the West Zone deputy commissioner of the GHMC, to appear before the court.

When the issue was discussed on Monday, State attorney Radhive Reddy told the court that Venkanna had contracted Covid-19 and had been replaced by the land acquisition officer. The bench specifically said that a contemnor should not be defended at the expense of the exchequer and instructed the state not to defend the contemnor. The judges told him to get a lawyer and represent himself.

When the State counsel was commencing his argument, the bench told him to furnish a copy of the land acquisition award. On the doubts raised by the State about the title of the land, the bench said that the State could not have initiated land acquisition proceedings in the first place, had it been government land.

Having initiated the land acquisition process and passed an award too, it is not open for authorities to go back and raise title issues, the bench said. “We are not here to confirm ownership. We are here to confirm whether compensation was paid in accordance with the land acquisition award made by the authorities,” the bench said. On August 18, 2022, the matter will once again be heard.

Official asked to appear
The bench determined during a recent session that the officials were presumptively attempting to escape their obligations, and ordered T Venkanna, the West Zone deputy commissioner of the GHMC, to appear before the court