An erroneous affidavit filed in the High Court by the former Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner has cost the civic body dearly, causing the loss of the modernised abattoir at Gowlipura.
Putting a full stop to decades of legal wrangles, the High Court has recently ruled in favour of the private petitioners who claimed ownership to eight acres of land, of which 4.2 acres housed the slaughter house and the subsidiary establishments related to it.
An affidavit purportedly signed by the then GHMC Commissioner played a significant part in the judgement, which stated that the said property fell outside the jurisdiction of the GHMC, and hence the corporation was not a necessary party to the writ petition.
The affidavit, attested by the then Deputy Commissioner, Serilingampally, requested the court that GHMC may be dispensed from the writ petition as it was in no way concerned with the property.
However, officials under the condition of anonymity, mention that the wording in the affidavit was wrong, and the intention was only to distance from one particular petition which challenged the decision by the Chief Commissioner, Land Administration. GHMC was not a party to the case before CCLA, hence the request to exclude, they said.
Merely two kilometres from Charminar, and just a few hundred metres from Lal Darwaza, the Gowlipura abattoir is very much part of not only GHMC but also the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad before it was expanded to include larger area. The bizarre affidavit has not only led to the loss of expensive land for the government, but also rendered redundant close to ₹7 crore worth imported machinery which has not been used since its installation.
It has come out of the blue even for the corporation’s own staff. On multiple occasions earlier, several affidavits were filed by the erstwhile Chief Veterinary Officer claiming GHMC’s ownership of the land in question.
One of these affidavits filed in 2017 cites Revenue records from 1955 that mentioned the land in the said survey number as ‘Kamela Kayam’ (Slaughter House) and ‘Khabrasthan Kayam’ (graveyard). The survey number had over 14 acres of land, of which the slaughter house premises occupied 4.2 acres. The writ petition by private persons claimed ownership of eight acres.
The abattoir was shut down along with four others in 2003 following the High Court directions in view of the pollution caused by them. Subsequently, following protests by workers and traders dependent on them, the GHMC had taken up modernisation of the abattoirs. In Gowlipura, the affidavit mentioned, 90 per cent of the work towards modernisation had been completed, except for the Effluent Treatment Plant, lairage, parking and trading facilities.
The original petition was filed in 1965, and an order was delivered in 1976 confirming the private ownership. Since then, it has been a maze of legal wrangles, constituting several appeals and counter cases. Mutation as per the orders is still pending.
“The government has been very lackadaisical in its approach, and there was an occasion when the judge reprimanded the government for not filing a reply for close to 12 years. The fresh affidavit is a bolt out of the blue, and absolutely ridiculous,” says M. Srinivas, the city secretary of the CPI(M), who is fighting on behalf of the workers and traders in the abattoir.
On Monday, he along with the workers, submitted a memorandum addressed to the GHMC Commissioner, seeking action against the officials and staff responsible for the “scam”.
