Hyderabad: In a significant development concerning Chiran Fort, the Telangana High Court, on Thursday, April 16, disposed of a writ petition, directing the Greater Hyderabad Heritage and Precincts Committee (GHHPC) to take appropriate action on the alleged demolition within two weeks.
The matter was heard by a single bench presided over by Justice Sharvan. The court took into consideration the legal position settled by the division bench in Dr Lubna Sarwath vs The State of Telangana (2019), which emphasised strict adherence to heritage preservation laws and procedural safeguards before any demolition activity is undertaken.
The writ petition was argued by advocates SN Hassan Baqri and Syed Ali Jaffry, who contended that the subject property falls within the ambit of protected heritage and that any demolition without due process under the Telangana Heritage (Protection, Preservation and Maintenance) Act, 2017, would be illegal and arbitrary.
Accepting the submissions, the High Court directed GHHPC, a committee that oversees the conservation, restoration, and maintenance of heritage sites within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) areas, to examine the allegations of demolition and take appropriate action within a period of two weeks.
The court also granted interim protection by directing that no further demolition activity shall be carried out by unofficial respondents for a period of two weeks.
Chiran Fort’s history
The Chiran Fort, located at Patigadda in Begumpet, carries significant historical weight. The palace is associated with Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, who served as Prime Minister of Hyderabad State from 1893 to 1901 and as Amir-e-Paigah from 1881 to 1902.
Built in 1890, the structure was originally a zenana palace, or women’s palace, constructed for Sir Viqar-ul-Umra’s wife, Shahzadi Jahandarunissa Begum, daughter of Nawab Afzal-ad-Dawlah, Asaf Jah V, and sister of the sixth Nizam, Nawab Mahboob Ali Khan.
The palace later became the residence of Sir Viqar-ul-Umra’s grandsons. One portion, now known as Paigah Palace, was home to Nawab Nazeer Nawaz Jung, who was married to Shahzadi Dawoodunnisa Begum, the youngest daughter of the sixth Nizam.
His grandson, Obaid-Ur-Rehman, continues to reside there and has worked to preserve the family’s legacy, maintaining Paigah Palace as the last surviving remnant of its former glory.
The other portion of the zenana palace was sold by his cousins from the Fareed Nawaz Jung line to Prem Sagar Rao, a former Congress MLA from Mancherial. He ran the Chiran Fort Club from that portion for a period, though the club has not been operational for some time.
The palace has two burjs, or towers. The one on the Paigah Palace side remains intact. The burj within the Chiran Fort portion, however, has been recently demolished.
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