1. This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is filed seeking the following reliefs:

“For the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit, it is therefore prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondent corporation not to make any construction including Sulabh Complex on a public road (Varun Motors Road), Benz Circle, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation declaring its action as illegal and ultra vires to the provisions of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and also the mandatory provisions of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act and the Rules framed thereunder on the subject from time to time, besides directing the respondent to demolish the construction already made, while directing not to proceed further and pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.”

(Reproduced verbatim)

2. The case of the writ petitioners, as set out in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, in brief, is as follows:

The three writ petitioners are carrying on their respective businesses in Varun Motors Road, (‘the subject road’, for brevity), Benz Circle, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. The sketch filed showing the topographical details of the area of the subject road on a perusal would make it clear that the 1st writ petitioner is having a petrol bunk facing MG Road situate on it’s Northern side and that the said petrol bunk is having the 30 feet subject road on it’s Western side and the 40 feet service road on it’s Eastern side. The 3rd writ petitioner is the owner of a building; and in it an NRI College is being run. The said building is having the 30 feet subject road on its Eastern side. The entire 30 feet subject road is covered by various offices, commercial organizations, a college, a petrol bunk and a post office. On a look at the sketch, it would be further clear that the subject road passes from South to North, i.e., it starts from 40 feet service road on the Southern side and ends on the Northern side after joining the MG Road, which is a four lane road. The width at the entrance of the subject road ranges between 35 and 40 feet; and the spot at which the subject road is ending is the subject matter of the writ petition. At that subject spot, the subject road’s width is 30 feet. The respondent Corporation had started construction of a Sulabh complex on the public road i.e., at the subject spot, that is, at the dotted portion shown in the sketch. On enquiry, the writ petitioners have come to learn that the respondent Corporation is planning to construct Sulabh Complex of a width of about 13 to 15 feet by encroaching the subject road at the subject dotted spot. Already, the subject road was encroached upon by a buddy shop and an electrical transformer. In spite of several representations by the public, the respondent Corporation, for the reasons best known to it, had failed to remove those two encroachments. Now, the respondent Corporation is planning to construct a Sulabh Complex narrowing the public road to a width of 15 to 20 feet at the subject spot. If such construction is made, the road at that spot would become a bottle neck. Heavy vehicles enter the service road to have oil/petrol at the 1st petitioner’s petrol bunk and return back through the subject road to enter National Highway no.5 (‘the NH 5’, for brevity). The subject road is covered by various commercial organizations including a college. There will be heavy vehicular traffic on the subject road; and, during the day time, there would be any amount of traffic jam in view of the parking of various vehicles on the road. The respondent Corporation knows all the facts. The vehicular traffic which passes through the NH 5 takes a diversion and enters the 40 feet service road and the 30 feet subject road to reach MG road whenever traffic jams occur