Telangana High Court
Telangana State Electricity Employees ... vs Telangana Southern Power Distribution ... on 25 March, 2026
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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA
AT HYDERABAD
THE HON'BLE JUSTICE MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA
AND
THE HON'BLE JUSTICE GADI PRAVEEN KUMAR
WRIT APPEAL No.1382 OF 2025
DATE: 25.03.2026
Between:
Telangana State Electricity Employees Union-327 INTUC
...Appellant
And
Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company,
Represented by its Chairman and Managing Director
TGSPDCL, Mint Compound, Hyderabad and five others.
...Respondents
Mr. Avinash Desai, learned Senior Counsel representing Mr.Khamar Kiran Kantamneni,
learned counsel appearing for the appellant.
Mr. N. Sreedhar Reddy, the learned Standing Counsel appearing for TGSPDCL appearing for
the respondent No.1.
Mr.G.Veeraswamy, the learned Government Pleader for General Administration Department
appearing for the respondent No.2.
Mr.S.Vivek, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Roads and Buildings appearing
for the respondent Nos.3 and 4.
Mr. Nooty Vasishta, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No.5.
Mr. B. Mayur Reddy, learned Senior Counsel representing
Mr. C. Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No.6.
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JUDGMENT:(Per Hon'ble Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya)
1. The Writ Appeal arises out of an impugned order dated 25.11.2025 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court dismissing the writ petition filed by the appellant herein for a Writ of Mandamus against the action of the respondent Nos.1 to 4 in failing to allocate the entire area of five floors of a newly- constructed building in the existing South West corner of the Secretariat constructed in the place of existing buildings of the appellant- Union vide Memo dated 22.10.2024 of the respondent No.2 and Letter No.E.in.c(B)/DEE1/AEE1/TS Secretariat/2024-2025/192, dated 16.05.2024 of the respondent No.4 to the petitioner-Union and not considering the representation of the petitioner, dated 07.02.2025 made to the respondent No.1 as illegal and arbitrary.
2. The appellant is the writ petitioner, namely the Telangana State Electricity Employees Union-327 INTUC, who is aggrieved by the order of the learned Single Judge.
3. The respondent Nos.1 to 4 are the Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company (TGSPDCL), the State of Telangana, represented by its Secretary and Principal Secretary and the Engineer-In-Chief (R and B), respectively.
4. We have heard learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant/writ petitioner, the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondent No.1/TGSPDCL, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No.5 and learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent No.6. The 3 respondent Nos.5 and 6 are Trade Union bodies/Associations, who are competing with the claim of the petitioner/appellant for accommodation in the new building which has been constructed. It is evident that the entire dispute in the present matter relates to allocation of space to the appellant as well as to the respondent Nos.5 and 6. The appellant claims to be an Association with a strength of 18,000 members, while the respondent No.5 claims to be an Association with a strength of nearly 2,500 members and the respondent No.6 also claims to be an association with a strength of 2,000 members as submitted by learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent No.6.
5. It is important to bear in mind that while issues of maintainability and legality have been raised on behalf of the respondent No.6, we deem it fit to dispose of the Appeal on the basis of equity rather than strict legal technicalities. We are of the view that the dispute correcting the allocation of space can be resolved by the respondent No.1/TGSPDCL in co- ordination with the Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana.
6. The admitted documents which form the subject matter of the dispute and are relevant for disposing of the matter to the satisfaction of all concerned is a Letter dated 14.07.2021, which forms the subject matter of the 'Promise' as stated on behalf of the petitioner of providing alternative accommodation to the petitioner for its present structure being dismantled by the R and B Department for the purpose of constructing a new G+3 building. The said Letter was written by the Chief General Manager, 4 Projects, TSPDCL to the General Secretary of the appellant/writ petitioner- Union. The second paragraph of the Letter, however, mentions 'Association' whereas the letter has been addressed only to the General Secretary of the appellant/writ petitioner.
7. The second letter is of 16.05.2024 from the Engineer-in-Chief (R and B) to the Principal Secretary to the Government recording, inter alia, that certain structures belonging to TGSPDCL Associations were dismantled due to implementation of the master plan of the New Secretariat Complex and TGSPDCL taking over the said space which belonged to the Association. The tabulated statement forming part of this letter records the names of the Associations in North and South West corner including the appellant at Serial Nos.3 and 4 together with the land area and the builtup area of the Associations buildings.
8. The other document is vide Memo dated 22.10.2024 from Chief Secretary to the Government which requests the Engineer-in-Chief (R and B) to hand over the possession of the 'Association Building' in the extreme South West corner outside the Secretariat premises, Hyderabad to the CMD, TGSPDCL/TSSPDCL, Hyderabad.
9. The aforementioned letters establishes that the respondent No.1/TGSPDCL dismantled the existing premises which were occupied by the appellant and the other Associations and handed over the space to the Chief Secretary/Government of Telangana in accordance with the request made by the Chief Secretary on 22.10.2024. The TGSPDCL accordingly 5 made a promise to the petitioner on 14.07.2021 to provide alternative space/accommodation available to the appellant as well as other Associations.
10. Hence, the documents show that the petitioner is deprived of an accommodation/space as undertaken by the TGSPDCL in the Letter dated 14.07.2021. Admittedly, the appellant and the other Associations are presently operating from temporary accommodations.
11. We accordingly are of the view that the writ petition may be disposed of on principles of equity by directing TGSPDCL as well as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana to revisit the tabulated statement annexed to the Letter dated 16.05.2024 in terms of allocation of space/accommodation in the newly constructed building for the three Associations, namely, the appellant, the respondent Nos.5 and 6. The TGSPDCL will provide accommodation to the petitioner as well as to the respondent Nos.5 and 6 in accordance with the numerical strengths of their respective membership and also taking into account the land and build up areas which is mentioned as part of the statement.
12. The TGSPDCL shall provide accommodation to the three Associations commensurate with their membership and the other relevant factors as detailed in the tabulated statement. Needless to say, the decision with regard to accommodating the three Associations will not be confined only to the new constructed building, but to any other 6 neighbouring buildings which is available for providing such accommodation to the three Associations.
13. The TGSPDCL and the Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana are directed to take a decision within four weeks from 31.03.2026 and communicate the same to the appellant as well as to the respondent Nos.5 and 6/Associations immediately thereafter. The appellant as well as respondent Nos.5 and 6/Associations are also given liberty to make representations to TGSPDCL within one week from today. The interim order dated 03.12.2025 shall remain in force until such time as a final decision is rendered by the TGSPDCL and the Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana.
14. W.A.No.1382 of 2025, along with all other connected applications, is accordingly disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.
_________________________________ MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA, J ____________________________ GADI PRAVEEN KUMAR, J Date: 25.03.2026 EDS 7 THE HON'BLE JUSTICE MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA AND THE HON'BLE JUSTICE GADI PRAVEEN KUMAR WRIT APPEAL No.1382 OF 2025 DATE: 25.03.2026