Telangana HC refuses interim orders on formation of Kothagudem Municipal Corporation

The Telangana High Court Monday refused to grant an interim stay on a writ petition that sought to cancel the formation of the Kothagudem Municipal Corporation. The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin observed that it found “no reason prima facie to pass any interim orders at this stage.”

In their petition, Potru Praveen Kumar and Azmeera Naresh, both residents of Palvancha Mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, have claimed that the government merged two municipalities and seven gram panchayats located in Scheduled Areas without legal authority.

Mummaneni Srinivasa Rao, the counsel appearing for the petitioners, argued that under Article 243-ZC(3) of the Constitution, municipal laws cannot be applied to Scheduled Areas until the Parliament specifically extends them. Further, he argued that the authorities improperly upgraded Scheduled Gram Panchayats and amended the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, without following the mandatory procedures of the Fifth Schedule. The action violates the Division Bench order in WP (PIL) No. 48 of 2020, which explicitly prohibited the creation of municipalities in Scheduled Areas until Parliamentary extension, he contended.