HC issues bailable warrants against Somesh Kumar

Hyderabad: Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar of Telangana High Court on Thursday  issued  bailable warrants against former chief secretary Somesh Kumar, for his wilful disobedience to court orders  in relation to a plot of land in Jubilee Hills. Somesh Kumar was sent to his originally allotted cadre in Andhra Pradesh last month.

Somesh Kumar had failed to appear before the court for the contempt case which was pending  from 2019 . The judge  issued warrants  against him and adjourned the case to two weeks.

The contempt case  was filed  against  Somesh Kumar, then revenue chief secretary , for not implementing the court orders  which favored  G. Surya Rao in relation to Plot No. 533 , Road No 26 of the Jubilee Hills Co-operative House Building Society, Jubilee Hills Colony, Hyderabad.

The society had allotted the plot of land to Surya Rao and it was registered in 1987. The state government without following procedure resumed the land later the same year. Surya Rao appealed in the High Court which in 1996 gave orders in his favour. The government again attempted to resume the land and the owner approached the High Court once more.

The government`s contention was that the area covered by Plots No. 533, 534 and 535 was needed by the government for providing access to the campus of the Institute of Administration, which  is located near the main gate of the Dr Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resources Development Institute.

The High Court in 2019 directed the government to pay compensation for the petitioner’s plot under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act or else allot another plot in the vicinity equal to the value of Plot No. 533. The exercise in this regard should be completed within four months  from the date of receipt of a copy of the order, the court said. As the government failed to do so, the contempt case was filed and Somesh Kumar failed to attend the court.