Owaisi School Lacks Approvals to Run Classes on Encroached Salkam Cheruvu Land

On Friday, the Telangana school education department informed the High Court that no approvals have been granted to run classes 1 to 10 at the Barrister Fatima Owaisi Educational Institutions in Bandlaguda Khalsa, Hyderabad. The submission was made during a hearing regarding alleged illegal constructions by the institution within the full tank level (FTL) and buffer zone of the Salkam Cheruvu lake.

T. Venkata Raju, the counsel representing the school education department, orally submitted to the court that the institution did not receive permission to conduct classes for grades 1 through 10 for the current academic year in the disputed buildings. He added that he was not aware of approvals for higher classes, such as Intermediate, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses, as those fall under the purview of the higher education and technical education departments.

Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar was hearing a petition filed by advocate Vijay Gopal. The petitioner complained about the inaction of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA) regarding repeated complaints of illegal constructions and encroachments. According to the petitioner, the Barrister Fatima Owaisi Educational Campus KG-PG and the Salar-e-Millat Educational Trust had constructed massive buildings that covered half of the Salkam Cheruvu lake area.

Earlier on April 30, Justice Shravan Kumar had directed the school education department to inform parents and students that their academics in the alleged illegal college and school buildings would be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.

The judge had also directed the principal secretaries of the revenue, irrigation, municipal administration, and school education departments to conduct a detailed inquiry into why officers failed to act against the encroachments since the college's construction began in 2015. Although the court directed authorities to furnish a detailed report by Friday, none of the departments submitted their findings, and HYDRAA failed to respond to the allegations of inaction.

Expressing strong displeasure over the lack of response from government authorities, Justice Shravan Kumar cautioned that the court would issue appropriate directions if the reports were not filed. The court granted a final opportunity for the authorities to submit the report by July 9.

Additionally, the court raised questions over the failure of the Barrister Fatima Owaisi Educational Campus KG-PG and the Salar-e-Millat Educational Trust to file a vakalatnama. Although the counsel for the trust stated they would cooperate with a lake survey, the judge noted that the counsel had appeared in previous hearings without filing a vakalath, asking if they were "playing fraud with the court."