Corporation warned by Court HC raps GHMCfor taking coercive action
The Hyderabad High Court on Friday rapped the GHMC for indulging in coercive action to collect property tax by disconnecting electricity and water connection and placing garbage bins in front of houses and commercial establishments.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a plea by M/s Chennai Network Infrastructure Ltd of Secunderabad seeking to declare the action of the GHMC in disconnecting electricity and sealing their towers for non-payment of property tax as illegal.
The petitioner company said that the GHMC officials had not yet quantified the amount of tax to be collected.
The bench said that “if the Corporation continued this type of action, the court will grant lib- erty to the petitioner to claim damages.” A. Sunder Kumar Das an IPS officer on Friday moved the Hyderabad High Court seeking review of a division bench judgment setting aside an order of a single judge wherein the police were directed to register FIR against the former DGP, K. Aravinda Rao under the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Mr Das had filed a petition in 2009 challenging the action of the Saifabad police in not registering a case on his complaint against Mr Aravinda Rao allegedly showing discrimination towards him.
In December 2014, a single judge directed that the case be registered and final report be filed before the Court.
Aggrieved by the order Mr Rao moved an appeal before a division bench. The bench allowed the writ appeal setting aside the single judge order on Jan 19, 2015.
Mr Das contended in that the judgment of the division bench was against the principles of justice as no adequate opportunity was given to him before allowing the writ appeal. The AP government urged the Hyderabad High Court to grant it liberty to review a GO issued 35 years ago prescribing eligibility criteria of using air conditioners by officers.
A division Bench comprising Justice Vilas V. Afzulpurkar and Justice B. Siva Shankara Rao was dealing with a contempt case moved by the Forum for Better Living of Warangal seeking to punish officers for not implementing an earlier order passed by the HC.