Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has declined to grant interim relief to stop the sale, registration or transfer of more than 400 acres of disputed land in Hyderabad’s Kukatpally.
However, Justice NV Shravan Kumar made it clear that any transactions involving the disputed land will remain subject to the final outcome of the case.
File counters in 3 weeks: Court to govt
Posting the matter for further hearing, the court directed the Telangana government and the concerned departments to file their counters within three weeks.
Alleging large-scale irregularities in transfer of government, the case was filed by Boduppal-based businessman Chinthala Srinivas Reddy.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that if the government auctioned the land, it could generate lakhs of crores of rupees in revenue.
He alleged that the land was originally allotted to GOCL Corporation for setting up a knowledge park but was later converted into residential layouts and sold for luxury villas and high-rise projects.
The petitioner also claimed that while companies such as TCS and Infosys had developed the land allotted to them on the outskirts of the city and created employment, the land allotted to GOCL in 2009 in the heart of Hyderabad had not been used for its original purpose.
The petitioner accused present and former collectors of Medchal-Malkajgiri district, along with local revenue officials, of misusing their positions.
Other side of story
Counsel appearing for the Telangana government and the private entities denied the allegations.
After hearing both sides, the High Court refused to grant an interim stay and directed the respondents to submit their counters within three weeks. The court clarified that any transaction carried out in the meantime will be subject to the final judgment in the case.
