Telangana HC Halts Notices to Marri Colleges

Hyderabad: Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday set aside notices issued by Gandimaissamma–Dundigal tahsildar on a host of colleges run by the Marri Rajashekar Reddy family for removing the illegal encroachment of land that was earmarked as the Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zone of the Chinna Damera lake.

The educational institutions that received the notices on August 22 include Maruti Educational Institutions, Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Marri Educational Society and Marri Laxman Reddy Institute of Technology and Management.

Through the notice, the tahsildar had directed the educational institutions to remove the illegal encroachments in seven days. In the case of inaction, the official warned that action would be taken as per the procedure.

Challenging the notices, the management of the Colleges approached the High Court.

Government counsel brought to the notice of the High Court that the notice was issued in compliance with an order passed by the High Court Chief Justice bench in a PIL on encroachment of lakes in HMDA limits.

The government counsel said that a report submitted by an Advocate Commission — appointed by the Chief Justice bench — had said that educational institutions filled debris into lakes, thereby diverting the water of the lake into the fields of other farmers, and that they have let out sewerage and other waste into the lakes thereby polluting them.

Based on the report filed by the two Advocate Commissioners, the Chief Justice Bench had directed the state government to take action against the erring educational institutions and remove all illegally constructed structures falling within the FTL and Buffer Zone.

However, the counsel for the colleges argued that without surveying the lake and without issuing notices to the land owners surrounding the lake, the authorities cannot fix the FTL and buffer zones.

After the arguments, the judge set aside the notice as it was in violation of the WALTA Act and the State Irrigation Act. He further said that the notice will be treated as “showcause notice” and the college managements are granted seven days to approach the tahsildar with all necessary documents. The tahsildar, the court said, will go through the documents and pass orders following the law. For one week, the court said, the tahsildar should not take action against the petitioner’s educational institutions.