SC dismisses plea against demolition of old secretariat bldg in Telangana

The Supreme Court today (July 17) dismissed a petition against the demolition of the old secretariat building in the State of Telangana.

The bench, comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah, was hearing a petition filed by Congress leader T Jeevan Reddy challenging the government’s decision to demolish the old secretariat building in order to construct a new one.

The bench said that the High Court had dealt with the issue in detail and had noted that it would not interfere with the state’s decision. Hence the bench refused to interfere with the High Court’s order.

On June 29, the high court had dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the state’s decision to construct a new secretariat complex by demolishing the existing one.

The petitioners had contended that no material was taken into consideration while taking a decision by the state cabinet on June 18, 2019 to demolish the existing secretariat buildings.

The High Court, however, observed: “We do not find any irregularity in the cabinet decision to demolish the secretariat” and dismissed the five PIL’s.

After the court’s decision, the government began work on the construction of the new secretariat and the demolition of the old secretariat building complex began and the foundation stone for the new one was laid on June 27, 2019.

-India Legal Bureau