HYDERABAD: Justice P Naveen Rao of the Hyderabad High Court on Friday admitted a contempt petition against Visakhapatnam district collector Pravin Kumar and ordered notice asking him to appear in court and explain as to why he ordered demolition of 14 huts in
Bharatnagar
slum in Visakhapatnam city contrary to the orders of the court. The judge passed this order after hearing a contempt plea filed by
Molli Santhamma
and 12 others who were urging the court to punish Pravin Kumar under Contempt of Courts Act.
According to KV
Satya Rama Chandra Rao
, the counsel for the petitioners,
GVMC
officials conspired with neighbouring flat owners and planned the demolition of the huts at Bharatnagar, citing alleged existence of a 30-feet road at the place of the huts. There is no such possibility as these people have been living in the area for the last 40 years. The GVMC officials were acting at the behest of the flat owners, he said.
When the slum dwellers approached the High Court challenging the move, the court had earlier directed the then GVMC commissioner to survey the area and find out whether the 30-feet road existed at the place where the huts had come up. If it existed, then the civic body could go ahead with the eviction, but if it was a fictitious one, then the slum dwellers should not be disturbed, was the essence of the court order. However, Pravin Kumar showed scant regard for this order and allowed the demolition of the huts without ordering any survey at all, the counsel said. On Saturday, Justice Naveen Rao admitted the contempt plea and ordered a notice to Pravin Kumar, who is now the district collector of Visakhapatnam.
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