Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, February 25, imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Protection Agency (HYDRAA) for fencing a private land in the Mallapur area under Uppal.
The agency has been asked to pay Rs 1 lakh per day to the petitioner until the fence is removed.
According to a report by The Times of India, Justice NV Shrava Kumar passed the order after hearing two portioners challenged the HYDRAA for fencing two separate 500 square yard plots.
The agency defended the fencing; however, the petitioners contended that the matter had been settled in a trial court, which confirmed their ownership of the plots. The petitioners also argued that, despite being aware of the trial courts verdict, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the LB Nagar zonal commissioner asked HYDRAA to put up the fencing.
An advocate commissioner appointed by the trial court to survey the lands to ascertain the facts also presented his report before the High Court. Following the hearing, the High Court observed that HYDRAA and other authorities should not have put the fencing on the plots.
In his order, Justice Shravan Kumar said, “This court has emphatically observed that any act of fencing or fixing boards should be on the directions of jurisdictional courts or high court. However, in this case, HYDRAA high-handedly fenced the plots and, after writ petitions were filed, is now justifying its stand without following due process of law,”
