Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court ruled on Wednesday, September 18, that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) must demolish its party office in Nalgonda, which was built illegally without the required permissions from the municipality.
The court has given the party a deadline of 15 days to carry out the demolition and has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh to be paid to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Nalgonda within four weeks.
Justice T Vinod Kumar criticized the BRS for its actions, noting that while in power, the party established regulations only to disregard them.
The court underscored that legal obligations apply equally to all individuals, including political entities.
The judge reprimanded the BRS for constructing the office on a one-acre plot without proper approvals and subsequently attempting to regularize it through a Building Regularisation Scheme (BRS) after the fact.
The party’s legal counsel faced significant criticism from the judge for persistently requesting an exemption from a Rs 1 lakh fine.
Justice Kumar dismissed these appeals, emphasizing the financial robustness of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a major regional political party in India, and affirmed that the fine was warranted.
This situation arose from a writ petition filed by the BRS, with Ramavath Ravinder Kumar as its representative, contesting a notice issued by the Municipal Commissioner of Nalgonda on July 20, 2024.
The notice mandated the removal of an unauthorized office within a 15-day period, leading the party to seek judicial intervention.
The BRS party office in Nalgonda is constructed on a one-acre plot spanning survey numbers 1498 and 1506, located in Nalgonda village and Mandal.
While in power, the BRS government issued two government orders – G.O. No. 167 dated August 16, 2018 and G.O. No. 66 Revenue (Assn-1) Department dated June 21, 2019 – to allocate this land for the construction of the BRS party office.
However, this land allocation has been controversial, with allegations that it violated existing rules and regulations.
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