The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Gold plating at Tirumala: hearing begins

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Tuesday, May 04, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Gold plating at Tirumala: hearing begins

Legal Correspondent

The Bench had earlier granted stay on the project on the writ petition

HYDERABAD: A Division Bench of the A.P. High Court comprising Justice B. Prakash Rao and Justice Reddy Kantha Rao on Monday began hearing arguments in the writ petition challenging the project of gold plating of inner temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.

The Bench had earlier granted stay on the project on the writ petition filed by G. Raghava Reddy.

Dr. Subrahmanyam Swamy and others pleaded with the Bench to hear arguments in their cases too as there was an order by another Bench to post all these cases together. He told the court that the government and TTD had not filed counter affidavits and he needed two weeks time to file a detailed rejoinder with documents annexed.

The Bench assured Dr. Swamy that he would be heard but made it clear that there would be no adjournment.

The counsel for the petitioner started his arguments and the Bench would continue to hear the arguments every day during the morning session.

The Bench reminded that the court had assembled during the summer vacation to peruse the arguments comprehensively.

The counsel said that the TTD had not applied its mind regarding the damage to the structure and the inscriptions. He said that 10,000 holes were proposed to be drilled into the temple walls without consultations with any structural engineer. The Archaeology Department had warned the TTD not to take up this project in 2008 but the TTD was adamant. The arguments would continue on Tuesday.

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Andhra Pradesh