HC Irked By Demolition Of Deccan Kitchen

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday directed a slew of senior government officials, including GHMC commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar, to appear in court on July 11 and explain the demolition of the alleged illegal construction at Deccan Kitchen Hotel.

The hotel is being maintained by Kore Nanda Kumar, accused in the BRS MLAs poachgate case. The other officials the court summoned were Banjara Hills deputy commissioner Raviteja and Banjara Hills assistant town planner Rajkumar.

Hearing a contempt case filed by Nanda Kumar, for W3 Hospitality Services Pvt Ltd, Justice Kanneganti Lalitha issued Form-I notices. The firm had leased a property in Filmnagar from actor Daggubati Venkatesh to set up the hotel and an ice cream parlour.

Following the poachgate incident, the GHMC affixed notices on the hotel premises, seeking a response on alleged illegal structures within seven days. The firm approached the High Court on November 11, 2022, which directed the MA&UD principal secretary and Banjara Hills officials to serve notices and give them two weeks to submit their contentions.

While the court had specified that the GHMC should only take action after hearing the contentions and not take coercive action before the next hearing, set for eight weeks later, the GHMC demolished the structures within two days of the court hearing, without serving notice.

Following the demolition, the petitioner filed a contempt case. The court, agreeing that the act was in blatant violation of court orders, directed the officials to appear before it.

The court closed the contempt case against Aravind Kumar, as he had passed directions to officials to comply with the court order.