HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has granted the state government one last opportunity to submit its responses to a series of petitions challenging the merger of panchayats, municipalities, and municipal corporations within the Outer Ring Road limits into the GHMC.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, stated, “As a final indulgence, the respondents (state) are allowed one week to file a counter-affidavit.”
The court also granted an additional week for the petitioners to respond to the state’s counters and adjourned the matter for further hearings.
Among the petitioners is 98-year-old farmer MA Shareef from Ailapur, Ameenpur, whose farmhouse was recently demolished by HYDRAA on April 11. They are contesting the Telangana Municipal (Amendment) Act, 2026, and amendments to the Telangana Municipal Act, 2019, initiated by the government to start the merger process.
Status Quo on Demolitions
In Shareef’s case, the high court previously ordered a status quo on demolitions and strongly directed HYDRAA to refrain from demolishing unauthorized constructions. The agency must focus on nalas, canals, and other public areas until it submits its standard operating procedures to the court.
When the petitions were heard on April 16, C Ravi Kumar, the assistant government pleader representing the state, requested additional time to file a counter-affidavit. The bench granted this request.
Initially, the court directed the state to submit responses within three weeks when the case was first brought up on February 16. The state was granted an extension of two weeks during the hearing on March 24.
The petitioners argue that the amendments are unconstitutional, arbitrary, and violate Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. They claim that these amendments were enacted without the necessary preliminary actions and that residents of the gram panchayats, municipalities, and municipal corporations received no prior notification regarding the mergers into the urban core.
