Commencement Certificate Required for All Construction Work: Telangana HC

Justice Tadakamalla Vinod Kumar said that the authorities of the civic body are required to verify and issue work commencement orders irrespective of the extent of the land.

The judge was dealing with a petition filed by three persons belonging to one family from Vinayakanagar of Neredmet, who challenged GHMC notices to stop construction work in their respective plots.

Two of the petitioners, father and son, divided the plot in two parts and started construction in 40 square yards each, while the third petitioner began works on 54 square yards, after getting registration for constructions, vide proceedings of January 1, 2024 under Section 7(2) of the TS-bPASS Act, 2020. However, on receipt of a complaint from their neighbours, GHMC issued notices to the petitioners on January 18, directing them to stop construction work forthwith. Challenging the same, the three persons approached the High Court. They contended that they had started works after obtaining registration under the TS-bPASS Act, 2020.

GHMC counsel argued that the said registration was subject to verification, as mandated by section 7 of the TS-bPASS Act, 2020. Further, he submitted that the authorities are required to cause verification of the registration generated by the petitioners within 21 days to verify the genuineness.

Considering the arguments and provisions of the TS-Bpass Act, the judge upheld the arguments of GHMC and made it clear that a commencement certificate from the civic body was required for every construction.

The judge recalled that the High Court had earlier declared that the benefit of registration provided under the Act in respect of plots less than 75 square yards is only in the form of a concession requiring an applicant to pay a nominal fee of one rupee and not requiring occupancy certificate on completion of such construction.