In a big relief for the Telangana government led by CM KCR, both Supreme Court as well as state high court on Friday gave a green signal for the demolition of the old secretariat buildings to pave way for the brand new, state-of-the-art secretariat complex.
Both the courts dismissed the petitions filed by the opposition parties challenging the demolition of the old secretariat complex.
First, it was the Supreme Court which set aside the petition filed by Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy challenging the earlier high court decision permitting the construction of the new secretariat complex.
The apex court made it clear that the construction of the secretariat was a prerogative of the state government and it would not interfere in the policy matter.
“The verdict comes as a slap on the faces of those who are opposed to the construction of a new state-of-the-art integrated Secretariat complex,” a CMO official said.
The high court, which had earlier given the nod for demolition of the old secretariat buildings and construction of new official complex in their place at a cost of around Rs 500 crore, took up another public interest litigation petition last week.
The PIL was filed by political activists, Dr P L Vishweshwar Rao and Cheruku Sudhakar, who argued that the government had not taken any permissions for demolitions.
The petitioners argued that the demolition was causing huge environmental pollution posing threat to the lives of the people in the present Coronavirus pandemic situation.
However, the high court bench comprising chief justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and justice B Vijayasen Reddy did not agree with the argument put forth by the petitioners.
Assistant solicitor general of India told the court that the state government did not require prior environmental clearance to demolish any buildings, but required permissions only for new constructions.
Telangana state advocate general also assured the court that the state government would take all necessary permissions while taking up construction of new buildings.
The division bench, which heard both the arguments, agreed with the assistant solicitor general that there was no need for clearance from the Union environment ministry and upheld the decision taken by the state cabinet.