IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 6822 of 2008 Between: M/s. Chowmohalla Palace Trust, having its office at Nazribagh, King Koti, Hyderabad, rep. by its authorized signatory Sri Kishore Joshi. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, rep. by its Commissioner, having its office at Tankbund, Hyderabad. 2 The Executive Engineer, Circle II, The Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, Sardar Mahal, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue an order or direction more particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not allowing the road cutting for connecting the sewage line of the Chowmohalla Palace Complex to the main sewage line passing through Motigalli without any reason or ground is illegal, arbitrary and highhanded and violative of article 14 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to permit the road cutting to be carried out by the contractor of The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to facilitate connection of the sewage line from the Chowmohalla palace complex to the main sewage line passing through Motigalli and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.R.RAGHUNANDAN Counsel for the Respondents: MR. R.RADHAKRISHNA REDDY, STANDING COUNSEL The Court made the following : ORDER: This writ petition has been filed by M/s.Chowmohalla Palace Trust, represented by its Authorized Signatory Sri Kishore Joshi with a prayer to issue a writ, order or direction, more particularly, one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not allowing the road cutting for connecting the sewage line of the Chowmohalla Palace Complex to the main sewage line passing through Motigalli is illegal and arbitrary. 2. The averments of the writ affidavit, in brief, are:- The Chowmohalla Palace Complex was recognized as the private property of the 7th Nizam H.E.H. Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur by the Union of India. Later, the 7th Nizam had gifted the property to the 8th Nizam in 1957. On 03.07.2006 the 8th Nizam H.E.H. Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Bahadur created a Trust known as Chowmohalla Palace Trust and transferred and vested Chowmohalla Palace in the trust. In the year 2000 the erstwhile 8th Nizam and his family members decided to restore the Chowmohalla palace and to open it to the public with various exhibitions to showcase the era of the Nizams. A conservative Team, consists of Mr.Martand Singh, Ms.Shobita Punja and Dr.Om Prakash Agarwal, after a preliminary review of the situation, decided that various structures including the buildings within the palace complex would be restored to their original splendor. For the purpose of restoration of structures, M/s.Rahul Mehrotra and Associates, a renowned firm of restoration architects from Mumbai, have been retained. The fabric collection was conserved by a team of restoration experts head by Mr.Rahul Jain. As the restoration of the structures in the Chowmohalla Palace Complex required clearance from the Heritage Committee of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA), all the plans and proposed actions for restoration of the structures were placed before the Heritage Committee of HUDA and necessary approvals were obtained from the Heritage Committee. The sewage and other wastes, which have to be disposed of from the precincts of the Chowmohalla Palace Complex, are to be routed through the sewage line from the palace complex to the main sewage lines which are passing through Motigalli, the road adjacent to the Chowmohalla Palace Complex. For the purpose of said disposal, an application was made to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB)-3rd respondent, to permit them to connect fresh sewage line laid by them to the main sewage line. As the main sewage line is passing under the Motigalli road, it is necessary for cutting the road to connect the sewage pipe to the main sewage line. However, the process of road cutting is permitted to be done only by a recognized contractor of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB). A registered contractor has already been entrusted with the work by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), who placed his men and material at the site and commenced road cutting operations in the last week of February. Whileso, the Executing Engineer, Circle II, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation-2nd respondent came to the site accompanied by various persons and directed the contractor to stop all works and informed the contractor that no road cutting would be allowed at all. Even though the contractor showed the sanction order and the work order, the Executive Engineer did not permit the road cutting work. Hence, this writ petition with a prayer stated supra. 3. When this writ petition came up for admission, with the consent of learned counsel for the parties, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal. 4. Heard learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondent Nos.1 and 2- Corporation. 5. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation accorded permission for cutting the road for connecting the sewerage line to Chow Mohalla Palace. Despite of the permission granted by the competent authorities, the Executive Engineer-2nd respondent is not permitting the contractor to cut the road for laying sewerage line. 6. Learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondent Nos.1 and 2-Corporation submits that the road cutting has to be carried out in the presence of the authorized representatives of the Executive Engineer of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and authorized representative of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB). 7. In that view of the matter, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition at the admission stage directing the respondents 1 and 3 to nominate their authorized representatives to be present at the time of cutting the road for the purpose of laying the sewage connection line from Chow Mohalla Palace Complex. No costs. ______________________ B.SESHASAYANA REDDY, J. Date:16th July, 2008. Note: Issue C.C. within three days B/O cs ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KURR}