Decide on PILs against Secretariat demolition: Govt to Telangana High Court

Hyderabad: The state government on Tuesday requested the High Court to decide on the public interest petitions (PILs) filed against the proposed demolition of Secretariat buildings and shifting of offices from the complex to various locations.

Advocate General B.S. Prasad made a mention before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan to hear the cases for its decision. The bench earlier had directed the state to not demolish the Secretariat buildings at Saifabad, until its further directions.

The interim directions were issued by the bench when the state government was not in a position to submit the architectural plans of the new Secretariat complex. Without preparation of the plans and Budget estimation to construct the new Secretariat, the government was in a hurry to demolish the existing buildings, the court had noted.

With the request of the state government to hear the cases soon, the bench on Tuesday said that it will hear the petitions on March 3.

The court is hearing a batch of PILs filed separately challenging the government decision to demolish the Secretariat, filed by Congress MLA T. Jeevan Reddy, advocate Tera Rajinikanth Reddy and the Forum for Good Governance, an NGO represented by its secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy, Congress MP A. Revanth Reddy and Prof. P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, vice-president of the Telangana Jana Samiti.