No construction or demolition at Pedapeta without obtaining necessary permissions, deputy speaker tells AP high court

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh assembly deputy speaker K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju on Wednesday informed the high court that they will not take up either temple construction works or demolition of existing structures at Pedapeta under Akiveedu mandal in West Godavari district without obtaining necessary permissions from the authorities concerned.One V Jyoshna Devi, along with two others from Akiveedu, moved the high court contending that officials failed to act on the illegal constructions being done at Malapeta without obtaining any permissions. Arguing on behalf of the petitioners, Jada Sravan Kumar said according to revenue records, the said land is categorised as govt land, and according to various judgements of the Supreme Court, no religious structures can be built on govt land. He said attempts are being made to demolish the existing structure for the construction of a Ram temple, which could hurt the sentiments of locals.The standing counsel for Akiveedu panchayat, Vallabhaneni Sirisha, submitted that no coercive steps will be taken without permission from the authorities concerned with regard to the land in question. The deputy speaker, who attended the court as local public representative, told the court that one of the petitioners is running a church and, ironically, the same does not have any permissions. He stated that they will not go ahead with any demolition or construction without obtaining requisite permissions.Considering the arguments, Justice K Srinivasa Reddy recorded the submissions by the respondents and asked them to file a counter affidavit. Declining to grant any interim order, he posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.Later, speaking to reporters, Raju said the Pedapudi temple row started on Ram Navami as some vested interests attacked him and his followers when they tried to perform puja at the Ram temple. He said it's unfortunate that some people are only making a fuss over Hindu temples but conveniently ignoring other religious institutions, which were built without permissions at several places in the state. "I have great respect towards Christianity and also towards the Constitution. All that I am asking is to implement constitutional provisions," he said.