Revanth Reddy, the president of TPCC, has asked Arvind Kumar, the principal secretary of municipal administration and urban development department, to withdraw the legal notice sent to him by the commissioner on behalf of HMDA. The notice was related to an issue involving ORR lease. Revanth warned that civil and criminal action would be taken against Arvind Kumar if he did not withdraw the legal notice given to him on May 25.
Revanth alleged that Arvind Kumar was acting as a politician without following service rules and not providing the information asked for. He claimed that an IAS officer should act neutrally without political motives but Arvind Kumar was speaking on behalf of the ruling party. He also pointed out that the ORR toll collection tender had been awarded to IRB for 30 years for only Rs.7380 crores, compromising the government’s income.
Revanth argued that the HMDA Master Plan would end in 2031 and leasing it for 30 years could cause problems if the master plan changed after that. He also criticized the fact that no road in the country has been given more than 15-20 years and the NHAI had suggested that the tender period should be 15-20 years instead of 30 years. He accused HMDA of violating rules by appointing a retired officer in place of an IAS officer and replacing HMDA with HGCL while the tender process continued.
Revanth claimed that he was stopped and arrested without being recognized as a public representative by state police when he was trying to obtain information through RTI about the lease. He alleged that Arvind Kumar was launching a counter-attack like a politician instead of answering the information asked. Revanth stated that the legal notice sent by Arvind Kumar was against the spirit of democracy and given to suppress ruling party’s irregularities being questioned. He made it clear that he would continue to fight on behalf of the people even if he was given a notice.
