Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, August 20, came down heavily on the government and civic authorities over the Ramanthapur electrocution tragedy, in which six people lost their lives.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka, while hearing the matter, raised pointed questions about accountability, asking:
“Who will take responsibility for people’s lives? The Centre? The state government? The GHMC? Or the service providers? How can each one say it’s not their responsibility? Everyone is responsible for the Ramantapur incident. Show some concern for human lives. Six people have died, without people, what use are cables and internet?” the bench asked.
The observations were made during the hearing of a lunch motion petition filed by Bharti Airtel, challenging the state government’s direction to disconnect TV and internet cables fixed to electricity poles across Hyderabad in the aftermath of the accident.
Airtel’s arguments
Appearing for Airtel, senior advocate S Ravi argued that the company had obtained necessary permissions and paid nearly Rs 21 crore for using electricity poles to lay cables.
He contended that the authorities removed the cables without serving prior notices, disrupting internet connectivity across the city.
He further pointed out that even individual households had strung connections from poles without authorisation and questioned why telecom providers alone were being penalised.
On the other hand, N Sridhar Reddy, counsel for Southern Discom, argued that the number of cables on poles far exceeded the permitted limit, aggravating safety hazards. The government’s counsel also maintained that cooperation from service providers was essential for clearing unauthorised cabling.
After hearing both sides, Justice Bheemapaka refused Airtel’s plea to restore the already-removed cables but ordered the issuance of notices to the respondents seeking explanations.
The court directed the Discom to hold off on further cable removals until Friday, when the matter will be taken up after receiving detailed responses.
Lokayukta takes up case suo motu
Separately, Lokayukta Justice A Rajashekar Reddy initiated suo motu proceedings based on media reports.
Notices have been issued to the Medchal–Malkajgiri District Collector, GHMC Commissioner, Discom SE, and Uppal CI, directing them to file comprehensive reports on the electrocution incident by September 11.
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