Justice Lalitha Kanneganti of the Telangana High Court on Thursday sought to know from former GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar how police protection was secured for demolition of a structure in Banjara Hills which was carried out in violation of High Court direction.
IAS officer Lokesh Kumar, who was issued Form-I notice for contempt of court over demolition of the structure which was the bone of contention between a tenant and a building owner, appeared before the Judge. The civic body’s former chief explained to the Judge that he was unaware of the High Court order with regard to the demolition of the structure in Banjara Hills.
A businessman, K. Nandukumar, rented part of a building in Banjara Hills owned by film actor D. Venkatesh. The tenant and the building owner had dispute on some points of the rented portion in which Nandukumar allegedly erected some structures illegally. Both moved the High Court which directed the authorities to take appropriate action without initiating coercive steps against the parties.
After hearing the GHMC’s former Commissioner’s explanation, the Judge raised several queries about the manner in which the GHMC authorities demolished the structure with police protection. “The incident shows heights of your arrogance and you are such thick skinned so as not to pay heed to the court orders,” the Judge said taking serious exception to the GHMC personnel not complying with the High Court orders.
The Judge sought to know from Mr. Lokesh Kumar as to how many demolitions of illegal constructions were carried out during his tenure on Sundays. “What prompted the authorities to demolish an ‘illegal structure’ without following the procedure and ignoring court instructions,” she said.
“When ordinary people come to you to act against unauthorised constructions... you don’t respond,” the Judge observed. But when powerful people approach the authorities, the latter even do not care for rules and court orders, the Judge said expressing serious concern over GHMC officials demolishing the structure even after High Court issuing specific instructions.
Petitioner’s counsel said the GHMC authorities colluded with the family members of the building owner and demolished the structure erected by the tenant to hand over the property to them. The Judge directed the petitioner’s lawyer to present the video clip, if any, to prove the demolition was carried out for an hour and large number of policemen were present there at that time.
The Judge made it clear that the officials responsible would have to face consequences of contempt of court if evidence was found to prove they were at fault. The matter was posted after two weeks for next hearing.
