Hyderabad: In an unusual order, the Telangana High Court on Thursday, July 23, directed the deployment of Indian Army personnel to guard a privately owned, disputed property in Secunderabad, saying it had lost faith in the state government and its agencies after repeated violations of its orders by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA).
“Though the court is conscious to not involve the army in such issues, we are doing so as we have lost faith in the state. Those sitting in the Secretariat should also know what is happening,” the High Court observed.
Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti passed the order while hearing a plea by Shanta Sriram Constructions Private Limited accusing HYDRAA of illegally interfering with its property at Lothukunta. The petition had been filed under contempt of court law, alleging that HYDRAA’s actions defied the court’s earlier orders protecting the property.
Will tell army to take HYDRAA chief into custody: HC
The judge said that if required, he could direct the army to take HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath into custody and lodge him in an army barracks for repeatedly violating court orders. He directed the High Court’s Registrar General, its senior administrative officer, to contact the army’s senior-most Brigadier posted with the Bison Division and arrange for ten army personnel to be deployed at the disputed site by Friday, July 24.
“Let the army personnel be deployed there. Let them take into custody anybody, including HYDRAA, coming into the site and put them in the barracks. Seize the vehicles also,” the judge said in open court.
The Additional Advocate General appearing for the state denied the allegation that HYDRAA had entered the property, but the judge pointed to photographs submitted by the petitioner showing HYDRAA vehicles on the land, calling it a clear violation of the court’s earlier orders.
Repeated contempt, warnings ignored: HC
The dispute had been building for days. On Tuesday, July 21, the judge had summoned the HYDRAA chief over the contempt petition and reprimanded him, warning that he would order the police to take him into custody, and had asked police personnel to be present in court in case such a direction became necessary.
The judge held back on Tuesday only after Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy appeared in court and assured that such violations would not recur.
On Thursday, however, the judge said the officer had been given the benefit of the doubt solely because of the Advocate General’s assurance, but had gone on to violate court orders for a third time. “But he thinks he is beyond everything and goes on violating court orders, not once, but thrice. This is a contumacious interference in the administration of justice,” the judge said, using a legal term for wilful defiance of the court’s authority.
This was even as Additional Advocate General Mohd Imran Khan sought one last chance, assuring the court that such actions would not be repeated. The judge remarked that if HYDRAA continued to behave this way, there would be no end to the problem.
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