Remove hotel, protect goshala land: HC to GHMC, Telangana endowments department

Hyderabad: Telangana high court has directed the endowments department and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to remove all encroachments from a disputed 4,000 square yard land at Muslim Jung bridge in Sultan Bazar, which was originally allotted by the Nizams for a veterinary hospital and a goshala run by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by SPCA seeking orders restraining the authorities from building, altering, or laying roads on any part of its property. The petition also sought directions to remove existing encroachments and to stop interference with SPCA's lawful rights. Senior counsel K Hariharan, appearing for the SPCA, submitted that although the court had directed the authorities in 2011 to trace 1.10 acres for animal welfare, the petitioner trust—established in 1927 as a non-profit organisation—had seen its original Nizam-allotted land shrink from 4,000 square yards to 2,096 square yards. The trust, which was historically chaired by the chief justice of the erstwhile high court of Andhra Pradesh and senior Nizam govt officials, alleged that portions of the land were taken over by GHMC for road construction, while other parts were encroached upon by third parties who are currently running a hotel on the premises. While the govt pleader and the GHMC standing counsel submitted that a portion of the land was still being used to house sick animals and a goshala, the court took a serious view of the private encroachments. The bench directed the respondent authorities to initiate the removal of all encroachments, including the hotel operating on the disputed land, within two weeks, following due process of law. ‘Seek police help'The court further directed the authorities to seek police protection for implementing the order and instructed the Hyderabad police commissioner to extend full cooperation in removing the encroachments. Emphasising the need to prevent recurrence, the court ordered the authorities to take effective steps to protect the premises from future encroachments and directed that a compliance report be filed by the next date of hearing scheduled for Jan 30.