RAGHVENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN - (1.) These five writ petitions have been filed for challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 18.06.2019 whereby the Cabinet has decided to construct a new legislative complex at the site of the Irrum Manzil, a 150 year old palace, situated in the heart of Hyderabad. Although different reliefs have been prayed for from this Court, but the common denominator remains the same, namely challenging the impugned order mentioned above. Therefore, all these writ petitions are being decided by this common order. WRIT PETITION (PIL) No. 75 OF 2019
(2.) In this writ petition, five reliefs have been sought for, which are as under: (1) to declare that once it is declared as a listed Heritage monument under the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority Zoning Regulations, 1981 (Now called as HMDA), it remains a listed Heritage Monument and Protected Ancient Monument; (2) to declare the decision of the respondents to demolish the Irrum Manzil Building, and the connected Structures in the sprawling area for the construction of New Assembly/Secretariat Building for the State of Telangana without any relevant material and report of competent committees under the relevant Acts before it; (3) to declare that the decision of the cabinet and the respondents to demolish Irrum manzil as illegal without jurisdiction a colourable exercise of power, discriminatory, capricious, whimsical; (4) to declare action of the respondents in not including the Irrum Manzil in the Schedule 1 and 2 of the Telangana Heritage (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Maintenance) Act, 2017 while including many less important / recent structures in the list of 346 structures ignoring the Notification declaring Irrum Manzil as a listed Heritage monument under the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority Zoning Regulations, 1981 and disregarding the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and the Ancient Monuments preservation Act, 1904 and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural heritage as whimsical, discriminatory, capricious, and a colorable exercise of power in violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioner, Citizens of the Country, and also the Dead Noble (Fakhr ul Mulk Bahadur) as Fame is a food that dead men eat protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India; and (5) to direct the respondents to include the Irrum Manzil in the schedule 1 and 2 of the Telangana Heritage (Protection, Preservation, Conservation, and Maintenance) Act, 2017, and as a protected monument under the Central Acts, and preserve, and protect the same. For the reasons given in W.P. (PIL) Nos. 79 of 2019 and 86 of 2019, it is obvious that once Irrum Manzil is declared as protected building under Regulation 13 of the Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad) Urban Development Authority Zoning Regulations, 1981 ("the Zoning Regulations, 1981", for short), which has been incorporated in Regulation 9(A)(ii) of the Land Use Zoning Regulations, 2010 ("the Zoning Regulations, 2010", for short), Irrum Manzil will continue to enjoy the status of being "protected heritage building". Therefore, prayer No.1, made in the present writ petition, is hereby allowed.
(3.) In consonance with the decision in the aforesaid writ petitions, it is held that the decision of the Cabinet, dated 18.06.2019 is legally unsustainable. Therefore, prayer Nos.2 and 3 are allowed in the same terms. However, under the Telangana Heritage (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Maintenance) Act, 2017 ("the Act, 2017", for short), it is for the Committee to recommend to the government that Irrum Manzil and other "heritage buildings" existing in Hyderabad should be included in the Schedule attached with the Act, 2017 or not. Thus, this Court will not be justified in directing the government to include Irrum Manzil in Schedule I & II of Act, 2017. Therefore, relief Nos. 4 and 5 claimed by the petitioner in the present writ petition cannot be granted. Hence, Writ Petition No. 75 of 2019 is partly allowed. No order as to costs.;