HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday pulled up Sandhya Sridhar Rao, owner of Sandhya Convention Centre, for encroachments on roads and open spaces in the Fertilizers Corporation of India Employees Cooperative Housing Society Layout at Gachibowli .

Justice Vijayasen Reddy, who heard the case, took a serious view of the construction of multiple buildings on the encroached roads. The judge observed that once a layout is approved, it must remain intact and cannot be altered for private use.

HYDRAA had earlier cleared the illegal structures raised by Sandhya Sridhar Rao. She had subsequently approached the High Court challenging the demolition.

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During the hearing, plot owners in the layout told the court that Sandhya Sridhar Rao had erased boundary lines and taken over roads, parks and neighbouring plots to expand her properties. They alleged she had purchased most of the plots and tried to intimidate other owners to gain full control of the 20 acre layout consisting of 162 plots.

Complainants also told the court that she had attacked one of the plot owners and filed false cases against others. They pointed out that the Supreme Court had earlier imposed a ₹10 lakh fine on her in a related matter.

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The victims said they had approached HYDRAA after facing repeated attacks and intimidation. Officials of the authority reportedly inspected the site, confirmed the encroachments and took corrective action by clearing the roads.

After hearing the submissions, Justice Vijayasen Reddy told the petitioners that the court had already instructed HYDRAA to restore all internal roads and parks within the layout. He assured the affected plot owners that the High Court would stand by them.