Bhadrachalam’s local status: HC pulls up TS

The Telangana High Court on Friday came down heavily on the state government for not declaring the local body status of the temple town of Bhadrachalam.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili questioned the Telangana government why it delayed for years in notifying Bhadrachalam, whether it was a gram panchayat or municipality, thereby depriving citizens of the rights of self-governance. The court pointed out that it was a clear violation of the Indian Constitution, so the authorities should wake up and take steps to declare its status within four weeks. Otherwise, the Chief

Secretary of Telangana should appear before the court and he would be held responsible for the violation, the bench said. The division bench on Friday heard a PIL filed by Sondi Veeriah, a tribal activist from Bhadrachalam, seeking a direction from the court to the government and the TS Election Commission to hold elections to gram panchayat of Bhadrachalam, which is due since 2018.

Vasudha Nagaraj, counsel for the petitioner, informed the court that the Telangana government had shown scant interest in holding elections to the gram panchayat of Bhadrachalam, thereby depriving the rights of the tribals living there. The TS government upgraded the gram panchayat in Bhadrachalam to a municipality through the Municipalities Act, but the Act does not apply to the scheduled areas of the state.

On the other hand, the standing counsel for the State Election Commission (SEC), Priyanka Singh, informed the court that it was not the SEC's fault elections were not held to Bhadrachalam. She submitted that the TS government had not yet taken a decision to notify Bhadrachalam, either as gram panchayat or municipality. Once, the government notified, the SEC would conduct elections within the timeframe, Singh informed the court.

After hearing the contentions of counsels for the petitioner and the SEC, the bench directed the Chief Secretary to inform the court within four weeks when would the state take a decision on holding elections, as the issue had been pending for the last five years, failing which the CS should appear before it in person.