Telangana High Court on Tuesday instructed the Secretary to Government (Agricultural Marketing) M. Raghunandan Rao and Director of Agricultural Marketing (Full Additional Charge) G. Lakshmi Bai to appear before it on March 14 in a contempt of court matter.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy passed this direction while hearing a contempt of court petition relating to shifting of Gaddiannaram Fruit Market to Baatasingaram. The plea was filed by Gaddiannaram wholesale fruit market association and the commission agents.
The bench also directed the State government to immediately stop the demolitions of structures at Gaddiannaram Fruit Market. It said the traders should be allowed inside Gaddiannaram market so that they can shift their belongings to the temporary market Batasingaram.
They contended that the authorities were not allowing them inside the market contrary to the HC’s earlier directions. They stated that in the past the HC had passed an order giving one month of time for them to shift their material and belongings to Batasingaram.
On this February 8, the HC passed an order to keep the Gaddiannaram market open for one month so that fruit merchants and traders can shift their material to Baatasingaram market. The petition was filed challenging the decision of the government to allocate the Gaddiannaram market land to build a super-specialty government hospital.
However, the HC declined to interfere in the matter stating that construction of a hospital was in the larger interests of the public. In the contempt petition, the merchants alleged that the authorities, contrary to the HC orders, opened the Gaddiannaram market only four days ago and started demolitions of structures.
The petitioners’ counsel Gangaiah Naidu told the court that government was registering criminal cases against traders who tried to enter the market to shift the materials. Observing that it was unfortunate that the HC orders were not being complied with, the bench summoned the top officials to appear before it.
