HC declines to restrain HYDRAA in K.A. Paul’s PIL plea

The Telangana High Court.

Telangana High Court on Wednesday declined to pass interim orders restraining HYDRAA from demolishing buildings that were constructed illegally along Musi river bank, after hearing a PIL petition filed by K.A. Paul of Praja Shanti party.

A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, citing the verdict of Supreme Court, said the courts cannot entertain PIL pleas based on information elicited from newspapers without attempting to verify their veracity. The bench noted that newspaper reports cannot be construed as evidence.

The present PIL petition filed by Mr. Paul was solely based on the information collected from the newspapers, the bench said. The bench, however, directed HYDRAA and the State government to file counter affidavits in the matter. The petitioner contended that that HYDRAA authorities were discriminating against the poor families living on Musi bank by demolishing their houses while they were leaving structures raised by high-profile persons within Full Tank Level of water bodies. He sought a direction to restrain HYDRAA from further demolishing buildings, stating that it had already demolished 462 buildings in and around Hyderabad.

The standing counsel of HYDRAA, responding to a query from the bench, said not a single house on Musi bank was demolished. He informed the bench that authorities of the Irrigation and Revenue department were gathering details of the terrain of Musi river bed by conducting a survey. The government was allotting double-bedroom houses to those whose houses were demolished, he said.