Civic body to begin using muscle that it always hid
Court had advised corporation to get violaters arrested
The GHMC has been using only sparingly a 2008 amendment to the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act that makes constructing unauthorised and illegal buildings and adding extra floors in violation of sanctioned plan, a criminal offence. The violator can be punished with up to three years imprisonment or fine.
GHMC chief city planner S. Devender Reddy now says the civic body will book criminal cases against repeat violators and habitual encroachers under Section 461(4) which will result in the arrest of the accused and put them on trial.
He said, “We had earlier filed criminal complaints and got FIRs issued a few years ago and the same are under trial in the Kukatpally court. There are provisions to book the violators under cognizable sections in Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act. We are getting FIRs issued now and then. It is getting difficult to get conviction.”
“Henceforth we will invoke Section 461 read with Section 596 of the Act and book repeat violators. For instance we demolished structures on nalas on Monday. If they construct again we will book criminal cases,” Mr Devender Reddy said.
The special chief secretary, municipal administration department, filed an affidavit in High Court on a writ filed in 2015 by one Jaan Mohammed alias Shahi, a victim, against unauthorised construction on Nizamshahi Road, in which he said, “As per the request of the corporation to treat the acts of unauthorised construction a cognizable offence in 2008, an amendment was made to Section 461 of the GHMC by adding subsection (4) and the same shall be read with Section 596.”
The High Court, ruling on the Jaan Mohammed case on May 19, 2016, observed: “It is not clear from the reading of the sub-section which vested discretion to the court” either to sentence the guilty to jail up to three years or to levy fine. The court observed that the corporation was not invoking the penal provision against those indulging in serious violations of sanctioned plans and building regulations.
Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy, who passed the judgement, ruled that the GHMC should take advantage of the provisions of Section 461 (4) of the Act and ensure registration of criminal cases and arrest of the violators, in cases of unauthorised constructions, constructions without permission and illegal constructions, constructions made in deviation of plans, except in cases of minor deviations.