HC issues contempt notice to HYDRAA Commissioner, 5 others

Issuing the notices, Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy said that prima facie, the officials had failed to comply with the court's earlier directions and that their conduct amounted to wilful violation of its orders.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has issued notices to six senior government officials, including HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath, for contempt of court.

The others to whom the notices were issued on Friday, November 6, are the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary, T.K. Sreedevi; Sangareddy Joint Collector, Ameenpur Municipality Commissioner, Pradeep Kumar; Sangareddy District Panchayat Officer Ravi; and the concerned Tahsildar.

They have to appear before the court on December 4.

What the petitioner said

Ninety-eight-year-old farmer M.A. Shareef filed the contempt petition, stating that he built a farmhouse on his 36.37 acres in Ailapur village, Ameenpur Mandal, after obtaining mandatory government permissions. He said the officials interfered with the possession of his property despite a specific order.

However, on April 11, this year, Revenue and HYDRAA officials entered his property and demolished the construction on the land, though there were court orders against that.

This, he said, violated the High Court’s orders of September 24, 2025.

Issuing the notices, Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy said that prima facie, the officials had failed to comply with the court’s earlier directions and that their conduct amounted to wilful violation of its orders.

He furnished registered sale deeds dating back to 1959 and pattadar passbooks of the land before the court. The petitioner told the bench that the officials, supported by some personnel numbering a few hundred, entered his land in the early hours of this April 11. It was a public holiday and no prior notice was issued, the petitioner said.

The senior citizen contended that though the HC issued an interim order on September 25 of 2025 in the matter, the authorities got the farmhouse demolished.