Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday pulled up government advocates for repeatedly seeking extensions to file counter affidavits in a case concerning the establishment of a radar centre inside the Damagundam Reserve Forest area in Vikarabad district.

The case was filed in 2020 by the Forest Protection Joint Action Committee (JAC) as a public interest litigation, questioning the ecological impact of the project on biodiversity. During Thursday’s hearing, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice GM Mohiuddin expressed displeasure after the government’s counsel once again requested additional time to file the counter.

The bench reminded the counsel that time had already been granted earlier on October 15 and criticised the continued delay, pointing out that even by November 13, the counter had not been submitted. The court ruled out any further extensions and gave the state government a final two-week deadline to file its response.

Court asks centre to submit counter on biodiversity concerns

The bench also directed the central government to submit an additional counter focusing on the radar station’s impact on biodiversity. It cautioned that government advocates delaying the filing process should be informed that such conduct could attract penalties.

The next hearing has been scheduled for December 15.