The Division Bench of Hyderabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Sen Jyothi Gupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar on Friday pulled up the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for dumping garbage in front of the premises belonging to some alleged evaders of property tax.
The bench was dealing with a writ petition filed by Anil Kumar, a businessman from Regimental Bazaar, who complained that the staff of the GHMC and officers had resorted to illegal activity in the name of collection of arrears.
‘Unprecedented’
He informed the court that the authorities had given no due certificate and within months they were demanding more than Rs. 2 lakh towards the arrears. No notice was given about the details regarding the time period for which the property tax was to be paid and the penalty. He complained that the notices issued in January and February 2014 show that the figures were manipulated.
He complained to the court that on February 23, they put a bin full of garbage in front of the shop and threatened further action. The bench expressed its dismay and wondered under what law such cheap practices were being resorted to. The bench gave one hour to the GHMC counsel to report back. After an hour, the GHMC counsel told the court that the garbage bin had been removed. The Chief Justice directed the GHMC to remove the bins put up before the premises at various places for the purpose of collection of arrears.
Meanwhile, GHMC Commissioner and Special Officer Somesh Kumar directed the Zonal Commissioner (North) to submit a detailed report on where the dustbins were kept in front of the premises of property tax defaulters and issued instructions on removing them immediately.
Case adjourned
The case pertaining to the appointment and recruitment to the posts of Junior Civil judges had been adjourned to Tuesday by the Division Bench of Hyderabad. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Sen Jyothi Gupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a PIL filed by senior advocate Satyam Reddy. He said that until subordinate judicial cadre is divided and cadre strength fixed for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the present recruitment cannot be taken up. The Division Bench directed the Telangana government to produce the material filed in the Supreme Court to ascertain whether the case which is being adjudicated by the Apex Court and presently before the HC are similar or not.
