Telangana High Court Upholds Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Reorganization

The Telangana High Court declined to intervene in the state government’s decision to reorganize the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). A division bench comprising Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar rejected petitions contesting the merging of 27 urban local bodies with GHMC and the subsequent delimitation of municipal wards. The state government had issued a notification to double the number of GHMC wards from 150 to 300, which faced legal challenges. The government justified its actions by citing a report from the Centre for Good Governance (CGG). Despite objections raised by petitioners regarding the lack of public disclosure of the CGG report and inadequate time for objections, the government informed the court that information on delimitation was available on the GHMC website. Over 3,100 objections were received and were under review. In a previous ruling, the single judge had instructed GHMC to disclose details of all 300 wards within 24 hours, including population data and geographical maps. GHMC appealed this ruling, leading to the division bench directing the publication of population data and maps for only the two disputed wards. The amalgamation of the 27 urban bodies with GHMC will elevate it to the largest municipal corporation in India in terms of both area and population. GHMC’s jurisdiction will expand from 650 to 2,050 square kilometers, with the population rising from 1.12 crore to 1.34 crore.