Hill Fort Palace not a protected monument

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy on Thursday directed the deletion of Archaeological Survey of India and the Central government as parties in PIL relating to protection of the Hill Fort Palace. The panel opined that the monument in question was not a […]

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy on Thursday directed the deletion of Archaeological Survey of India and the Central government as parties in PIL relating to protection of the Hill Fort Palace. The panel opined that the monument in question was not a Centrally protected monument. The panel was dealing with a PIL filed by Hyderabad Heritage Trust.

The petitioner complained that the palace was being converted into a 5-star hotel. The government pleader stated that the monument was de-notified as a protected monument through a government order. The counsel for the petitioner rebutted the proposition of the government as the court had struck down the said notification that de-notified the protected status of the monument. The panel posted the matter to June 24 for further hearing.

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Court directive on registration of lease deed

Justice T Amarnath Goud of Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the Stamps and Registration Department to register the lease deed presented by one Vishnu Das Tapadia in favour of Bharat Petroleum. The judge however made clear that the registration of the lease shall be subject to the result of the writ petition.

The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Vishnu Das Tapadia who challenged the action of the Registration Department in not registering the lease deed citing the subject property as ‘Enemy property’. Mayur Mundra, counsel, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the retail outlet was in the said premises since 1970 and also that in 2007 the GHMC had acquired part of the land and paid compensation to the petitioner. He would further submit that inclusion of the property of the petitioner was done without issuing notice to the petitioner. The court admitted the case and posted it after 4 weeks for counters.

‘One Stop Centres in 7 districts’

The same panel directed the government to submit steps taken to establish ‘One Stop Centres’ for women’s protection. The panel was dealing with a PIL filed by ‘Forum against Corruption’, an NGO based out of Hyderabad. The NGO sought directions to the State government for setting up a centre in each district. The government pleader pointed out that ‘One Stop Centres’, intended for the integrated purpose of support and assistance of women and children in distress, had been established in seven out of thirty-three districts in Telangana.

The Chief Justice directed the government to file an additional counter, detailing steps taken for further establishment of ‘One Stop Centres’ in other districts within five weeks. The panel posted the matter to September 24.

Status quo on defence project vacated

The same panel on Thursday vacated its earlier order to maintain status quo in a PIL filed by Damagundam Forest Protection Joint Action to restrain the Eastern Naval command from executing its ELF radar project in Vikarabad district. The Chief Justice stated that a defence project cannot be indefinitely suspended through the interference of the court when the petitioner has not taken steps to respond to the counter affidavits issued by the respondents.

The panel reiterated that the environmental guidelines have to be complied with while the project is being carried out and further construction should be carried out at the risk of the respondents and would be subject to the final orders of the court. The panel posted the matter to October 28.

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