The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the State government to ensure that no idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) are immersed in either Hussainsagar or any other water bodies in Hyderabad during Ganesh idol immersion. A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar passed this order while hearing a writ petition.
The bench instructed the Police Commissioner of Hyderabad to ensure that the idols made of PoP were immersed only in the baby ponds created by GHMC. The bench recorded that the Special Government Pleader (SGP) Harinder Pershad had assured the HC that its orders would be communicated to the authorities. The SGP should emphasise with the authorities the need to follow the HC directions meticulously, the bench said.
The SGP was directed to file the compliance report on the matter within three weeks. The bench, while hearing the plea, recalled that the HC in 2021 passed an order in a contempt of court petition filed in 2014 relating to the matter. Challenging this order, the State government filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court.
The division bench headed by the CJ recalled that the State government assured the SC then that in future no Ganesh idols made of PoP would be immersed in Hussainsagar.
In a separate matter, the bench passed an order staying operation of the Government Order Ms. No. 84 issued on July 23 which permitted regularisation of transactions conducted through unregistered sale deeds. The bench observed that ‘prima facie the GO 84 was beyond the scope of Section 9 of Indian Stamps Act’.
In another development, Justice B. Vijayasen Reddy dismissed a writ petition filed by Singarein Collieries Company Limited seeking more time to conduct polls to the trade unions of workers.
