Hyderabad: Telangana high court has ordered the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation ( GHMC ) to make the display of building permissions mandatory at construction sites, including exempted smaller plots.
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed the direction recently and directed the civic body to inspect ongoing projects in the Siddamber Bazaar and Begum Bazaar circles, halt any unauthorised work and file a compliance report before the court.
The petitioner had sought regularisation of the structure under Sections 455-A and 455-AA of the GHMC Act. The court noted that the petition was untenable, as only ground+2 floors are permissible on a plot of that size as per the rules, and no vested right accrues merely from filing a regularisation application while a civil suit over the property remained pending without any interim protection. Opposing the petition, the GHMC told the court that the petitioner’s applications for building permissions had been rejected due to deficiencies and violations.
Calling the misuse of self-certification a “disturbing trend,” the court ordered the sealing of a ground-plus-five-floor structure in Siddamber Bazaar that was constructed without valid permissions, in blatant violation of municipal building laws. The judge passed the directions while hearing a plea filed by Raj Kumar, a businessman from Siddamber Bazaar, who approached the court alleging inaction by the GHMC on his applications seeking regularisation of additional floors in a building.