Top News

Hyderabad: Two Scheduled Caste women, on Monday, March 16, filed a police complaint and a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Telangana High Court, seeking protection against illegal and arbitrary action by Jangaon’s District Collector, Municipal Commissioner and Station House Officer, who allegedly worked together to demolish their stalls.

Both Palamakula Chinna Manjula and Potkanuri Vijayalaxmi are residents of Yerragollapad village in Jangaon district.

As part of the state government’s Indira Mahila Shakti Scheme, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) provided them with a tea stall to operate from the Jangaon Collectorate office complex. The women claim that the previous Collector, Sheikh Rizwan Pasha, encouraged them and helped ensure government aid reached them.

However, Manjula claimed that the newly appointed District Collector, Sandeep Kumar Jha, directed the Municipal Commissioner to remove their shops without prior notice or due process.

“The Commissioner officials, along with the SHO, are now attempting to dispossess me from the said stall without issuing any notice or following due process of law,” Vijayalaxmi said in her petition.

Manjula said she took massive loans of up to Rs 3 lakh for developing the stores, and now, due to the demolition, she suffered an additional loss of Rs 10,000.

Tea stalls demolished by JCB cranes on orders of District Collector

The tea stalls were reportedly demolished using cranes on March 11, while the goods from inside the containers were thrown in a heap.

“On March 11 at 11 am, JCB cranes came and forcibly removed the goods from our shop, threw them in a heap and tried to remove the tea stall container with a crane,” Manjula said in the police complaint.

She added that the action continued on March 12, when the Municipal Commissioner, Maheshwar Reddy, arrived with a group of 20 people to remove the shop.

“Again, on March 12 at 12:30 pm, Municipal Commissioner Maheshwar Reddy, with around 20 people from Jangaon town, came and tried to remove my shop and goods, forcing my husband and me to leave our house.”

The women said the demolition action is arbitrary, illegal and violative of Articles 14 (guarantees every individual equality before the law, equal protection of the laws), 19 (1) (g) (right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) and 21 (fundamental right to protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

The women alleged that despite being permitted to use government-provided electricity by order of the District Collector, the connection was subsequently severed.

They demanded that the police take action against the Collector, SHO, the Municipal Commissioner and other Revenue Department officials involved as well.

They requested the authorities to register a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to bring them justice. Meanwhile, Vijayalaxmi sought protection from the High Court against the illegal and arbitrary actions of the accused.