HC Initiates Contempt Action Against HYDRAA Chief Over Malkajgiri Demolition
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath over the illegal demolition of a compound wall in Malkajgiri. Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar issued a notice to the commissioner and heavily criticized the agency, questioning whether it was running a parallel government after it executed the demolition despite existing court orders protecting the landowners' possession.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by affected landowners who challenged the demolition of their compound wall on July 18, 2026. According to the petitioners, the action was carried out without any prior notice, and was followed by the fencing of the property and the erection of signboards on their land located in Survey No. 194/1 of Malkajgiri.
The landowners contended that the demolition directly violated earlier High Court orders that restrained authorities from interfering with their possession. Several writ petitions concerning the same parcel of land remain pending before the High Court, with subsisting judicial orders protecting the land.
In an earlier hearing, the High Court had directed the District Collector of Medchal-Malkajgiri, the Mandal Revenue Officer of Malkajgiri, and the Tahsildar/MRO of Tirumalgiri to appear before the bench with relevant records. The court had requested an explanation as to how the demolition and fencing took place despite active court orders.
Appearing in court on Wednesday, the District Collector and the revenue officials stated that they had not issued any permission or authorization to HYDRAA to demolish the compound wall. Previous proceedings noted that revenue authorities were aware of the protective court orders and should have brought them to HYDRAA's notice before any action was taken.
Justice Shravan Kumar expressed serious concern over the agency's manner of functioning, observing that it seemed to have become routine for authorities to demolish structures first and offer apologies in court later. Considering the circumstances grave, the court proceeded to issue a contempt notice to Commissioner Ranganath.
