Hyderabad: The Congress government has received approval from the Supreme Court to conduct an inquiry into the 380 crore forest land encroachment ‘scam’ case.
According to reports, the state government is considering launching an investigation following the Supreme Court’s directives and intends to hold accountable those officials who facilitated an individual in acquiring ownership of 106 acres of forest land in Kompally, Bhupalpally.
A former collector of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district and some revenue officials are under the scanner for suspected collusion with a private individual to encroach upon forest lands valued at hundreds of crores.
The Supreme Court found discrepancies in an affidavit filed by the ex-Bhupalpally collector, supporting the individual’s claim to 106 acres of land in Kompally forest, revealing irregularities in granting ownership of land worth approximately Rs 380 crore to the private party, despite objections from the forest department.
According to a report by the TNIE, the individual approached the court 20 years ago claiming ownership of the 106 acres in the reserve forest in Bhupalpally district. The erstwhile Warangal district court delivered a judgment in favour of the forest department in 1994. Later, he challenged the court order in the High Court which also upheld the district court judgment.
In 2021, the individual filed a review petition in the high court over a forest-related matter and received a favourable judgment.
The forest department then challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court through a special leave petition. The district collector at the time submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in support of the individual’s claim without obtaining government approval.
The Supreme Court objected to two government departments submitting different affidavits and sought an explanation from the state’s chief secretary.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, immediately after assuming charge, took a special interest in the matter and asked to file an affidavit in the apex court immediately and fight the legal battle until the case was won.
With the intervention of the chief minister, the affidavit submitted by the district collector was withdrawn in the Supreme Court. The government believes that the previous regime allowed the encroachment under the guise of Haritha Haram, the report stated.
The Supreme Court recently upheld the claim of the forest department over a piece of land, directing the state government to take action against officials who had previously supported the claim of a private individual.
The court criticized the actions of the previous regime, imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the encroacher and the government for their roles in the matter
Citing sources, the report said that the district collector and revenue officials joined hands with the encroacher to prepare false reports under pressure from a former BRS MLA.
Two District Forest Officers (DFO) were allegedly transferred due to their refusal to prepare reports as per the wish of the political leaders, it added.
