Find suitable replacement for HYDRAA chief Ranganath: Telangana HC to Govt

Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti of the Telangana High Court in his judgment on Friday held HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath guilty of civil contempt for wilfully disobeying the Court’s orders, while advising the Chief Secretary of the State Government to relieve him from the post of Commissioner and find a suitable replacement of the officer as early as possible.

The contempt cases were filed by M/s. Shanta Sriram Constructions Pvt. Ltd., alleging that HYDRAA officials, accompanied by police personnel and heavy machinery, entered its 40-acre land at Lothukunta on July 17 and 18, demolished temporary structures and attempted to fence the property in violation of the High Court’s order dated June 10, 2026, wherein HYDRAA had undertaken not to enter or interfere with the petitioner’s land.

The Court took a serious view of the incident in the backdrop of nearly a decade of litigation over the property. The petitioner had succeeded before the Single Judge in 2021, the State’s civil suit questioning



the petitioner’s title was rejected as barred by limitation and the Division Bench dismissed the State’s appeal in 2025, allowing the judgment to attain finality. Justice Jukanti noted that HYDRAA was never a party to any of those proceedings and never challenged the Division Bench’s order before the Supreme Court.

Taking an unprecedented view, the Court requested the Chief Secretary to the State Government to relieve AV Ranganath from the post of HYDRAA Commissioner and appoint a suitable replacement at the earliest. The Court observed that such a course was necessary “in the interest of justice, to uphold the Rule of Law and the Majesty of Courts”.

In one of the strongest observations in the judgment, the Court observed that “Rule of Law has to prevail NOT Rule of Men. If Rule of Men prevails, it’s a death knell for Democracy. This is a classic case of Rule of Men trying to prevail over Rule of Law, a fallacy which shall remain a Dream in a True Democracy like ours.”