HC directs PIL petitioner to approach RR Collector over ‘airport land encroachment’ by construction company

The Telangana High Court on Monday directed a person, who filed PIL petition accusing a construction company of illegally occupying 97.06 acres of Shamshabad airport land, to approach the Ranga Reddy district Collector with a representation on the matter.

Declining to pass any specific orders in the PIL plea field by K. Krishna, the bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin directed the Collector to deal with the representation of the petitioner in accordance with law. The petitioner sought a direction to the authorities alleging that M/s Vertex Developers LLP VERTEX KLR GIGA CITI (which was cited as 14^th respondent in the plea) had encroached upon airport lands and illegally began constructions there.

He also charged that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority had issued permissions for layouts to the extent of 4,17,893.06 square meters in the lands belonging to the airport at Mankhal village of Thukkuguda municipality. The petitioner wanted the HC to instruct the HMDA to cancel all the permissions granted to the construction company.

When the petitioner’s counsel B. Balaiah requested the bench to pass an order to stall the construction works at the said lands, the CJ said when the bench itself was unable to find specific and full details of the lands allegedly encroached upon how did the petitioner expect the HYDRAA and the RERA to respond in the matter. The bench told the counsel that there was ambiguity in the plea and the petitioner failed to present specific details of the lands which were illegally occupied.

The bench directed the petitioner to approach the Collector with comprehensive details of the lands encroached by the construction company and the statutory bodies which had accorded permission to the company raise buildings there.