High Court green signal for Secretariat demolition

Hyderabad: The High Court Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy cleared the hurdles from the State government's way by dismissing the public interest litigation filed by retired Professor P.L. Vishweshwar Rao and Dr Cheruku Sudhakar seeking a stay on Secretariat demolition, observing that the Court did not find any Merits in the public interest litigation.

By dismissing the PIL, the High Court has cleared the decks for the State government to go ahead with the demolition work of the Secretariat, which was put on hold since July 10 and brushed aside the contentions of the counsel for the petitioner Chikkudu Prabhakar as untenable and unsustainable and observed that the word Preparation of Land has not been defined either in the Environmental Protection Act or in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.

Earlier, the High Court had directed the Central Environmental Ministry to inform the Court whether the State does require a prior clearance from the Ministry to go ahead with the demolition of the Secretariat and in adherence of its directions.

The Assistant Solicitor General of India Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao furnished the letter dated July 17 issued by the Ministry of Environment, clearly stating that a logical reading in the interpretation of the provisions indicate that stand alone demolition activity does not require Prior Environmental Clearance as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 thereby the Central Government has supported the contentions and interpretations of the State Government.

The present demolition activity is already covered under rule 4(3) of the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 under which the local authority concerned is empowered to grant necessary permissions. Moreover, the Chief Justice Bench in its order observed that the only rider the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority attaches to the State Government is that, further environmental clearance is necessary to be obtained from it before the actual commencement of the constructions/activity namely, excavation of the foundation.

The Bench also found fault with the contentions of the counsel for the petitioners Chikkudu Prabhakar that the State ought to have adhered to various provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2016 and Epidemic Disaster Act, 1987 stating that these two are enabling provisions and these do not in any way, prohibit demolition of the Secretariat.

The Court recorded the contention of Advocate General Banda Shivananda Prasad that during the course of arguments submitted that due to Pandemic, the State Cabinet meeting could not be convened. Moreover, on 30-6-2020 a file with regard to the issue as to whether the construction of the Secretariat should be taken or not was circulated to the Cabinet and the Cabinet has unanimously decided that indeed the present Secretariat needs to be demolished and the State of Art and Iconic Secretariat needs to be constructed.

Advocate General Prasad further frankly conceded that as per the Article 21 of the Constitution, it includes the right of the people to fresh air, water and clean environment and assured the court that all precautions are being taken by the State that air quality does not adversely affect the health of the people.

Moreover, the State is aware of the Pandemic and it is taking every step to eradicate Covid-19, not only in Hyderabad but also throughout the State.

AG further contended that the State is well aware of Constitutional and Statutory duties. Nonetheless, since a number of reports clearly pointed out deficiencies in the present Secretariat buildings, the State Cabinet is of the opinion that the present Secretariat buildings need to be demolished so that the modern Secretariat can be constructed in its place.