The Hyderabad High Court has vacated the stay on Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) works on Greenlands to Jubilee Hills Check Post stretch and also dismissed the writ petitions in this connection.
This order was issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Sen Jyothi Gupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar on Thursday. The Bench made it clear that the issue of Metro rail was to be dealt with by experts and that an element of public debate was not needed.
The writ was filed by Greenlands, Ameerpet, Madhuranagar, Yusufguda, Srikrishnanagar Joint Action Committee and 20 others.
They alleged that the people whose properties were affected were not consulted. The petitioners also challenged the application of AP Tramways Act to HMR project. Acting on their petition, a single judge issued interim orders stopping all works on the stretch and later the Division Bench took up the case. Initially, the HMR and L&T were permitted to take up soil testing only. The Bench said that just because the word “rail” was used, it could not be said that the Indian Railways Act was applicable to the HMR.
