After HYDRA targets Nagarjuna’s N Convention in Hyderabad, Telangana HC calls for status quo

Nagarjuna, who insisted that the demolition was unlawful and that the structure was not illegal, moved the High Court immediately, following which Justice Vinod Kumar directed HYDRA to maintain status quo over demolition

Hyderabad: Continuing its demolition drive in and around the city, the Hyderabad Disaster Relief and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRA) on Saturday began pulling down Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna‘s N Convention Centre at Madhapur, alleging that it was in the full tank level (FTL)/ buffer zone of the Tammidikunta Cheruvu. The actor, who insisted that the demolition was unlawful and that the structure was not illegal, moved the High Court immediately, following which Justice Vinod Kumar directed HYDRA to maintain status quo over demolition activities at N Convention.

The court’s intervention followed an urgent motion filed by Nalla Preetham Reddy, manager of N Convention, stating that the demolition, which began in the early hours of Saturday, was illegal and conducted without proper notice or adherence to due process. In fact, the judge asked how HYDRA could proceed with the demolition while litigation regarding the property remained unresolved. He also pointed out irregularities in the notice issued to the petitioner, which was dated August 8 but delivered only on the morning of August 24, the day of the demolition.

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While HYDRA director AV Ranganath stated that N Convention was clearly an unauthorised structure, senior counsel P Raghuram, representing N Convention, argued that the land did not fall within the limits of Tammidikunta Cheruvu and said more than 200 policemen were deployed to the site, restricting access and facilitating the demolition process. Raghuram alleged that HYDRA disregarded ongoing litigations concerning the property, including disputes over the FTL limits being adjudicated in both the District Court at Kukatpally and the High Court. Though HYDRA officials defended their action, Justice Vinod Kumar directed the agency to maintain status quo, prohibiting any further action.

Earlier in the day, officials from HYDRA, GHMC, Irrigation and Revenue Departments swooped down on N Convention, stating that it was located in the FTL/ buffer zone of Tammidikunta Cheruvu and began demolishing the centre spread over three acres. A few other properties were also demolished. In a press release, Ranganath, said that in 2014, HMDA had issued the preliminary notification for Tammidikunta Lake in respect of the Full Tank Level (FTL) / and Buffer zones and the final notification was issued in 2016. After issuing the preliminary notification in 2014, N Convention had then approached the High Court, which directed that due process of law should be followed in the respect of determination of FTL. Accordingly, an FTL survey was conducted and the survey report was communicated to owners of N Convention, who then approached the Miyapur Additional District Judge Court in 2017. The case was still pending.

“There are no stay orders from any court. The management of N – Convention has been clearly manipulating the systems and processes and continuing their commercial activity through the unauthorized structures built in the FTL and buffer zones. N-Convention has encroached 1 – Acre 12 guntas in FTL and 2 Acres 18 guntas in buffer zone and raised unauthorised structures. GHMC has not given any building permission to N – Convention,” Ranganath said, adding that N–Convention had tried to regularize the structure under a Building Regularization Scheme (BRS) but the move was rejected.

Meanwhile, Nagarjuna, in a post on social media, said he was “pained by the unlawful manner of demolition”, which he said was contrary to existing stay orders and court cases.

“The land is a Patta land, and not even an inch of tank plan is encroached. In respect of the building constructed inside the private land, there is a stay order granted against any earlier illegal notice for demolition. Today clearly, the demolition was carried out wrongfully based on misinformation. No notice was issued prior to carrying out the demolition this morning,” the actor said, adding that as a law-abiding citizen, if the Court had decided against him, he would have carried out the demolition himself.