Overview
- HYDRAA, which a judge addressed Monday, must pause demolitions in Hyderabad and municipal areas except to clear encroachments on river bodies, nalas (storm drains) and public roads.
- The court said the agency has no standard operating procedure and has carried out drives without notice or due process despite earlier rulings.
- Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy barred action on internal roads or compound walls until HYDRAA files an SOP or cites rules under the GHMC or Municipalities Act.
- The case arose from a writ by 98-year-old M.A. Shareef, who says officials and uniformed personnel entered at about 4:30 a.m. and demolished his two-storey ancestral house and other structures.
- In a separate petition, Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar questioned HYDRAA’s authority to take possession of disputed land and ordered it to produce any permission that allowed such seizures.