HYDRAA slapped with Rs.1 lakh fine by Telangana High Court for illegally fencing private plots

The Telangana High Court imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on HYDRAA for illegally fencing private plots in Hyderabad and ordered immediate removal. The court warned of daily penalties if the agency fails to comply with the directions

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: Justice N V Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) for illegally fencing private plots and directed that the fencing be removed immediately, failing which the agency must pay Rs 1 lakh per day until compliance.

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The order came in writ petitions filed by Jonnalagadda Padmini and Praharraju Rajya Lakshmi, who asserted ownership over Plot Nos. 184 and 185, each admeasuring 500 square yards in Survey No. 100 of Babanagar Cooperative Housing Society, Mallapur Village, Uppal Mandal. The Court considered the report of an Advocate Commissioner appointed earlier, who inspected the site and confirmed that the petitioners’ plots were located within a larger fenced area measuring about 1,804 square yards. The Commissioner noted that the entire land had been enclosed with chain-linked barbed wire and that a signboard of HYDRAA had been displayed at the site. Counsel for the petitioners pointed out that the civil courts had already decreed that the petitioners were the absolute owners and possessors of the respective plots. The trial court had also granted a mandatory injunction directing removal of constructions abutting the plots and restrained interference with their possession. It was submitted that the decrees had attained finality and were not challenged in appeal.

Justice Shravan Kumar observed that once a competent civil court had adjudicated the rights of the parties, the respondents could not overreach those orders by fencing the land. The Court remarked that any act of fencing or fixing boards must be pursuant to directions of a jurisdictional court and not through unilateral action. Holding the conduct of the respondent agency to be arbitrary and high-handed, the Court directed immediate removal of the fencing covering Plot Nos. 184 and 185 and awarded Rs 1 lakh as costs to the petitioners. The Court further made it clear that if the fencing is not removed forthwith, HYDRAA shall be liable to pay Rs 1 lakh per day until compliance.

The matter has been posted to March 18 for reporting compliance.