THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION Nos.26102 and 26381 of 2024

COMMON ORDER:

The notice dated 19.09.2024 issued by the respondent-TGSPDCL with regard to disconnection of electricity supply, consequent to the GHMC letter dated 18.09.2024 stating that the properties of the petitioners in Guttala Begumpet Village fall within the Full Tank Level (FTL) of Medi Kunta lake, is challenged in common in these writ petitions. For the sake of discussion, the averments in W.P.No.26102 of 2024 are referred.

1.1 The brief facts of the case, as per the writ affidavit in W.P.No.26102 of 2024, are that petitioner No. 1 purchased 240 square yards in Plot No. 82 through a registered sale deed (No. 1687 of 2009) on 7.4.2009, while petitioner No. 2 purchased an adjacent 240 square yards in Plot No. 83 through sale deed No. 1688 of 2009 on the same date. This land was formally brought into the regulatory fold when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accepted their application under the Land Regulation Scheme, issuing Proceedings dated 23.1.2009. Subsequently, upon an application made by the petitioners, a formal building permission was granted by the GHMC, vide Permit dated 25.3.2021, for which they paid a fee of Rs. 3,42,591. This permission, valid until 25.3.2027, was used to construct their home, and they obtained electricity connection USC No. 111507992, for which they claim to have paid all bills for the past three years.

1.2 On 19.9.2024, the petitioners received the impugned notice from Respondent No. 5. Petitioners state that this notice was issued based on instructions from the Deputy Commissioner of the GHMC contained in a letter dated 18.9.2024. The GHMC's assertion, which forms the basis for the electricity disconnection threat, is that the petitioners' building on Plot Nos. 82 and 83 in Sy. No. 32 of Guttala Begumpet Village falls within the Full Tank Level (FTL) or Buffer Zone of the Medi Kunta lake.

1.3 The petitioners vehemently dispute this allegation and contend that a joint inspection was conducted by the Revenue, Irrigation, and Survey authorities on 17.9.2021, covering Sy. Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 32, and 33, and the inspection concluded that there was no water body (Medi Kunta) present in Sy.No.32. Furthermore, the petitioners cite a report from the Deputy Inspector of Survey, Ranga Reddy district, dated 27.8.2020, which confirmed no physical water body existed on the ground except for a small pond, and noted that while a kunta was marked on the 1976 village map, it was not recorded as such in the 1950 Sethwar land records, where the land was classified as Sarlari. The petitioners also reference a 1954-55 land record that classified the land as "Kunta venaka polam-Patta", and that this collective evidence was endorsed by the thenDistrict Collector of Ranga Reddy District in a letter dated 8.10.2021, which requested the HMDA to take further action based on these findings. The petitioners allege that the Deputy Commissioner, GHMC, acted unilaterally and without verifying the records. They further contend that the electricity department officials (Respondents No. 4 and 5) acted without application of mind by blindly following the GHMC's directive. The petitioners contend that the GHMC has no statutory authority to command the electricity department, whose actions must be governed solely by the Electricity Act. They further contend that no direct notice or proceeding has ever been initiated against them by the GHMC regarding this land issue, thereby the sudden disconnection threat is a violation of due process.

2. A counter affidavit is filed by the respondent-Assistant Divisional Engineer of TGSPDCL, contending that the petitioner has held an electricity service connection, bearing SC No. A9064004, since it was released on

22.6.2018, for the property in question. The GHMC issued a letter dated 18.9.2024, addressed to the Assistant Engineer of TGSPDCL, informing the electricity department that the petitione