Hyderabad: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave liberty to a city-based practising lawyer, Khaja Aijazuddin, to approach the Telangana high court in connection with a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the Exhibition Society.
The SLP will be challenging a government order permitting the yearly Numaish Exhibition in the city to be held.
While dismissing the SLP the apex court bench, led by Justices DY Chandrachud, A S Boppana and JB Pardiwala, said, “If the petitioner has any grievance in regard to the GO, he would be at liberty to pursue such remedies as are available in law.”
The lawyer in his SLP contended that the Telangana government issued an order (G.O RT NO. 693/2019) pertaining to the ‘Safety enhancement and Fire & Disaster, Prevention guidelines’ for public congregations that allowed the Exhibition society to hold Numaish in Hyderabad.
The petitioner, who is a lawyer by profession, told the apex court that the Exhibition Society “in collusion” with the Telangana government has managed to obtain clearances and provisional No Objection Certificates (NOC) from concerned departments.
The lawyer alleged that the society would not have gotten the necessary permits if it had abided by the Telangana Fire Services Act, 1999.
The Hyderabad-based lawyer informed the Supreme Court bench that GO’s issuance “was superfluous, unwarranted and illegal”.
He was seeking special leave to appeal against the final judgment and order of the Telangana high court in Public interest litigation (PIL) passed on January 4, 2022. The high court has disposed of the PIL without adjudicating upon its main prayer of prosecution of the Exhibition society, said.
A massive fire broke out in the year 2019 in the Numaish Exhibition in Hyderabad and property worth crores was destroyed with many stalls getting damaged. Some people were also injured. The All India Industrial Exhibition is a mammoth affair with a display of more than 2500-3000 stalls.
The Numaish has a footfall of more than 30000 to 40,000 people per day, spread over an area of 24 acres and is conducted every year from January 1 to February 15.
