IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 1721 of 2009 Between: Sri Shirdi Sai Samaj a registered Society, C/o. Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Bhagyanagar Colony, Kukatpally, Hyderabad rep. by its General Secretary. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department Secretariat, Hyderabad, rep. by its Principal Secretary. 2 The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Near Tank Bund, Hyderabad, rep. by its Commissioner. 3 The Deputy Commissioner, West Zone, Kukatpally, The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. 4 The Commissioner, Cyberabad Police Commissionarate, Gachibowli, Hyderabad. 5 The Station House Officer, Kukatpally Police Station, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring action of the respondents in restraining the petitioner members and devotees from using 300 sq. yards of the area ear marked for Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Statue temple as per the order of the Hon'ble Court dated 24.4.2003 made in W.P.Nos.5802/2003 and 1354 of 1998 and further seeking to misinterpret the order of this Hon'ble Court as arbitrary, illegal, unjust, improper exercise of power, violative of the order of this Hon'ble Court, violative of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to the devotees under Articles 14, 19, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to permit the petitioner to reconstruct the area admeasuring 300 sq. yards ear marked for Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Statue temple as directed by this Hon'ble Court. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. C.V.R.RUDRA PRASAD Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR MUNCIPAL ADMN. & URBAN DEV. The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.1721 of 2009 ORDER : This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the alleged action of the respondents in restraining the members of the petitioner society and devotees from using 300 sq. yards of the area earmarked for Sri Shirdi Saibaba Statue Temple as per the order of this Court dated 24.04.2003 in W.P.Nos.5902 and 1354 of 1998 as arbitrary and illegal. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the Corporation and the learned Government Pleader for Home appearing for the respondents 4 and 5. As could be seen from the material on record, W.P.Nos.5902 and 1354 of 1998 were disposed of by this Court by common order dated 24.04.2003 with the following observations : “Therefore, for the above reasons, these two writ petitions are disposed of with the following observations and directions: (i) Notwithstanding any order passed by any Civil Court and the Government of Andhra Pradesh shall immediately take action for demolishing and dismantling all structures, which have come up in the open area admeasuring 2897 sq. yards in the lay out approved by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, whatever be the amount spent on such structures, forthwith. The Municipality may take police help if necessary. It is made clear that all the Associations espousing the cause and public interest of the residents are before this Court and no further notice is necessary to anybody; (ii) The actual area occupied by Shirdi Sai Baba Temple shall be excluded and other structures, be it, temporary or permanent, shall also be dismantled and removed forthwith. The area of about 2,597 sq. yards after excluding 300 sq. yards occupied by the temple shall be developed as a park and compliance report shall be filed in this Court, within a period of three months by the learned Standing Counsel for the Municipality; (iii) It is not denied that an amount of Rs.5,00,000/- has already been sanctioned. Further, the learned counsel for Bagyanagar Colony Welfare Association, Sri V.S.R. Anjaneyulu, submits that the members of the Association will be depositing an amount of Rs.50,000/- with the Municipality within a period of one month from the date of the receipt of a copy of this order, and the same is recorded; (iv) The Municipality shall commence the work of park forthwith without waiting for the petitioner to deposit the amount of Rs.50,000/-; and (v) As and when the Municipality requests, the Superintendent of Police shall send a contingent of police for removing the illegal constructions. The said order was upheld by a Division Bench of this Court as well as the Apex Court. Thereafter, W.P.No.15250 of 2004 was filed by the petitioner alleging interference by the police and the staff of the Municipality with the possession and enjoyment of the temple and the rituals being performed in the temple. The said writ petition was dismissed by a Division Bench by order dated 3.11.2004 holding as under : “So, from the pleadings it is clear that Shirdi Sai Baba Statue Temple is in existence in an extent of 300 sq. yards only at one place and not in two different places as claimed by Shirdi Sai Samaj. As a matter of fact, the Shirdi Sai Samaj filed WAMP 298 of 2004 in W.A.Nos.746, 748 and 848 of 2003 to exclude an extent of 300 sq. yards for the temple to the effect that an extent of 100 sq. yards occupied by Dwarakamai Temple and 200 sq. yards occupied by the main temple. The said clarification petition was dismissed holding that the order passed by the court on 11.9.2003 is very clear and unambiguous. That order became final. Therefore, the present writ petition is devoid of merit inasmuch as the petitioner has already availed the remedy and now the petitioner cannot turn round and say that the respondents are interfering with the two temples located at two different areas. The order of the learned single Jude is very clear that the area of 300 sq. yards occupied by the Shirdi Sai Baba Statue Temple shall only be excluded from demolition. The order of this court is very clear that an extent of 300 sq. yards is occupied by Shirdi Sai Baba Temple. The writ petition is devoid of merit and is liable to be dismissed. Accordingly the writ petition is dismissed.” The present writ petition is filed in February, 2009 alleging that contrary to the orders of this Court, the respondents 2 and 3 herein were trying to remove the temple and demolish the other structures and also demanding the petitioner to shift the idols in the temple. However, the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the Corporation, under instructions, stated that the respondents never interfered with the 300 sq. yards of area occupied by the temple and never acted contrary to the orders of this Court in W.P.Nos.5902 and 1354 of 1998. It is also stated by the learned Counsel that in compliance with the directions of this Court, 300 sq. yards occupied by the temple was segregated from the open space earmarked for the park and a compound wall was already constructed. However, since the idols which are existing in the park area have not been removed, the petitioner society was addressed a letter by the Corporation on 5.6.2009 to shift the idols which still remained in the Park. Nothing could be placed before this Court by the petitioner contradicting the statement of the learned Standing Counsel for the Corporation. In the circumstances, it is apparent that the allegations made by the petitioner are unfounded and without any basis and the interference by this Court is unwarranted. Accordingly, recording the statement of the learned Standing Counsel that the respondents have not been interfering either with the temple or its rituals, the Writ Petition is dismissed. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 24.06.2009 gbs