Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has held that Section 16 (A) of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, intended to incorporate to insist a property owner surrender land for road widening is ultra vires.

While allowing a petition by Channavajala Vijaya Lakshmi, a property owner from Kondapur in the city, Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao said that that petitioner cannot be compelled to give up valuable land purchased by her to the GHMC free of cost. The GHMC can not deny permission for construction on the rest of the land, which is not required for road widening.

The relevant Section states that unless the area affected in road widening as per the statutory plan/ master plan or circulation network is surrendered free of cost, no development permission shall be given. The judge said, “in my opinion, this is ultra vires. Provisions of the GHMC Act would amount to legitimising the arbitrary action contrary to the provisions of the GHMC Act as well as the HMDA Act and the law declared by the Supreme Court in several cases”.

The judge directed the Telangana state government to initiate the process under Section 32 of the HMDA Act in accordance with the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 for acquisition of the portion of the land required by them for road widening out of the property owned by the petitioner and pay compensation to her.

The judge directed that the respondents shall not insist on the petitioner surrendering the land required for road widening free of cost as a pre-condition for considering her application for permission for construction in portion of her land unaffected by road widening of 30ft.