HC blames field staff for illegal buildings in city
Orders top GHMC officials to act against recalcitrant officials
Taking note of the role of junior level officials of the GHMC’s town planning section for the first time for the rampant illegal constructions in the city, the Telangana High Court warned that heads will roll at the higher echelons down to the field staff if any delinquency is noticed among in curbing illegal constructions.
A division bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy said that the court will monitor all the recalcitrant officers who are turning a blind eye to the rampant illegal and unauthorised constructions taking place right under their nose.
CJ Kohli told GHMC staff that bells were ringing aloud, and errant officials must get ready to be axed if they continued with the same working style. “If they do not pick up the thread even now, they will face the consequences.”
The bench opined that the town planning officers were in connivance with builders of such buildings.
Justice Vijaysen Reddy, during the course of arguments, apprised Chief Justice Kohli of the facts: “The officials on the one hand threaten persons resorting to illegal constructions that their constructions will be demolished; and on the other hand, they show them the way to approach the lower courts and obtain a stay.”
BELLS ARE ringing, errant officials must get ready to be axed if they continue with the same working style. If they do not pick up the thread even now, they will face the consequences.”
Chief Justice HIMA KOHLI
THE OFFICIALS threaten persons resorting to illegal constructions that their constructions will be demolished; and on the other hand, they show them the way to approach the lower courts and obtain a stay.”
Justice VIJAYSEN REDDY
“After obtaining the stay, they would complete the construction. Later, the builders would apply for BRS and get their constructions regularised. They never file vacate stay petitions against the protection being given to the violators. This is practice going on,” Justice Vijaysen Reddy told Chief Justice Kohli.
Justice Reddy explained to the CJ that the field staff at the GHMC does not come into the picture even as their role is pivotal in restraining persons from resorting to illegal constructions. Rather, on the negative side, they alert violators as to when the inspection would be conducted and who complained against the ongoing illegal construction. These persons are so crucial that they too should be made accountable, Justice Reddy told to the Chief Justice.
Taking note, Justice Kohli inquired about the vigilance department of the GHMC and asked whether the GHMC ever took the action against the staff and tried to prosecute the violators or any penal action was initiated. The CJ asked for the details.
Stressing that ultimately the buck should stop at the table of the senior officers, the CJ said delegation of authority does not mean abrogation of authority, and she directed the zonal commissioners to file their individual affidavits in a tabulated form with all the information.
The directions are that all the six zonal commissioners in the GHMC, responsible for 30 circles and 150 wards, file their individual affidavits, duly furnishing the details of how many illegal constructions they had identified under their jurisdiction
till the end of 2019.
They must state the number of cases of violations they booked in each circle and how many illegal constructions have been demolished and the number and details of the prosecution initiated in those circles.
They must also state how many persons approached the courts and obtained a stay on demolition orders and what steps the officials took to vacate such stay orders. The court directed them to file their affidavits furnishing these details in a tabulated form.
The court also directed
the municipal commissioner of Peddamberpet municipality of Ranga Reddy district to submit the details of that municipality. These directions have been issued by the division bench in a petition filed by one Gottimukula Nageshwar Rao seeking a prayer not to demolish the unauthorised structure he had raised on a house in Kukatpally mandal. The court has converted the petition as a PIL.
Data should be submitted to the court within four weeks and the next hearing was fixed for April 15.
The VCK agreed to contest in six seats, four in the reserved category and two general constituencies, in the April 6 elections to the State Assembly on Thursday even as the DMK was waiting for the rest of its allies, particularly the Congress, to return to the negotiating table and sign pacts in the next two or three days.
After signing the poll agreement with DMK President MK Stalin, VCK general secretary Thol Thirumavalavan said their priority was to thwart the BJP’s plan to capture the State and hence they did not want to haggle over the number of seats.
It is in the same spirit, other allies – the Congress, CPM, CPI and MDMK – would agree for the seats offered to them, sources in the DMK said. However, the mood in the other party offices was different.
While Congress sources said that talks with the DMK were deadlocked as the final offer they had been given was 20 seats against their demand of 35 but hoped that everything would be solved amicably in a day or two.
AICC’s Tamil Nadu incharge Dinesh Gunda Rao, who is in Chennai to handle the negotiations for seats, had a meeting with the TNCC functionaries and the general perception was that the party should not accept the low offer.
Though the cadre, in general, felt the need for an alliance with the DMK to defeat the BJP in the State, there were some voices favouring the party going it alone in the polls. Senior TNCC leaders, however, clarified that the negotiations would yield positive results in a day or two.
Since the VCK, which was given 2 MP seats in the Lok Sabha elections, was given six seats, the Congress leaders feel that they were entitled for 27 seats, given the fact that
they contested from nine constituencies for the Lok Sabha in 2019.
So, the general hope is that they would settle for a round figure of 25 and the pact would be signed in the next two days. Similarly the other DMK allies too are asking for more seats, while there seemed to be no threat to the alliance.
While CPM leader Sitaram Yechury indicated that the alliance with the DMK was intact, at the local level the party was demanding more than the eight seats it had been offered. The CPM’s State executive meeting, scheduled for March 6, would take a final call on the alliance, sources said.
The TNCC is also holding its extended executive meeting on Friday when the seat-sharing imbroglio may again figure and the leaders may be able to take a final decision on it.
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in the Covid-19 daily new cases and they cumulatively account for 85.51 per cent of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours.
The daily new cases of in India were recorded above 17,000 after over a month.
On Thursday, 17,407 new infections were reported in a day with 89 daily new fatalities.
The active caseload has increased to 1,73,413 which comprises 1.55 per cent of the total infections, as per Union Health Ministry data.
At the same time, the total number of cases with UK, South Africa and Brazil variants of the Covid virus in India has now reached 242.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 9,855. This is the highest number recorded in Maharashtra since October 18 when 10,259 new cases were reported.
It is followed by Kerala with 2,765 while Punjab reported 772 new cases.
On the other hand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Assam have shown a reduction in the active cases in the last 24 hours.
As many as 23 States/UTs have not reported any Covid19 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, a study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has identified multiple mutations and unique proteins in isolates of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, has also shown that the host produces several proteins of their own as their body launches an immunological defence in response to the
viral attack.
Meanwhile, Home Ministry has once again reiterated to all States and Union Territories
that it was willing to provide “all possible assistance and help” to ensure a smooth rollout of Phase-II of Corona vaccination
which started on March 1in the country. The Ministry on Thursday asked the States that they can seek any possible help from the Centre is they face problems in smooth implementation of the vaccination programme.
A week ago Home Minister Amit Shah had chaired a high level meeting to review the rollout of phase-II Corona vaccine and had instructed his officials to maintain close co-ordination with all States and provide all possible assistance to them.
Now with some states reporting a sharp increase in Corona cases, Home Ministry which has been working as the main central or nodal agency, on Thursday asked different states if they required any help or assistance to ensure smooth implementation of the vaccination process. In the second phase of vaccination all those above 60 years of age or those above 45 but with any history of a serious disease.
“The Home Ministry control room is working round the clock and maintaining close contact with all states and UTs keeping a close watch on vaccination process. At the same time the sudden increase in Corona cases is also causing some concern so we have asked states that whatever assistance is required Centre is willing to provide all possible help,” a senior Ministry official said.
Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to chair another high level meeting next week which will discuss and review the nationwide implementation of the vaccine. Depending on the feedback from states the meeting will also suggest any changes if required in the vaccination process.
Walmart Inc's Flipkart is exploring going public in the US through a merger with a blank-cheque company as it seeks to quicken its listing process, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Bengaluru-based online retailer has been weighing a US initial public offering and it's now also looking at other options, the people said. Flipkart's advisers have approached several Spacs, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is not public. Flipkart could seek a valuation of at least $35 billion in a blank-cheque transaction, the people said.
Deliberations are at an early stage and Flipkart could still explore other options, the people said. A representative for Flipkart had no immediate comment.
The e-commerce firm is joining other Indian firms like online grocer Grofers in exploring a US listing through Spac deals. ReNew Power last week agreed to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (Spac) in a deal that will give India's biggest renewable power producer an enterprise value of $8 billion.
Merging with Spacs will allow Walmart to take its India unit to market at a faster pace than the usual IPO route. As many as 10
Indian companies could go public through Spac deals before the end of the year, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.
Flipkart, which
is
battling
with e-commerce arch-rival Amazon.com Inc and Mukesh Ambani's retail venture for market share in India, started operations in 2007 and now sells 80 million products on its platforms. Walmart acquired a majority stake in Flipkart in a $16 billion deal in 2018.