Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has struck down an appeal by the Telangana government in connection with the alleged land grabbing of Bathukamma Kunta in Bagh Amberpet, reaffirming the Telangana High Court’s earlier orders to maintain status quo in the matter.
The litigation was between Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Edla Sudhakar Reddy and the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), which has been going on for the past couple of year, with the former claiming 7 acres of Bathukamma Kunta has been his private land, and the latter claiming it as government land (lake).
On June 12, 2025, the High Court had issued orders, directing HYDRAA to remove the structures like sign boards, gates and fencing, which the agency had constructed in violation of an earlier court order on March 17, 2025- to maintain status quo.
Even before that, on January 10, 2025, Sudhakar Reddy had filed a case against HYDRAA as a civil suit in a lower court, claiming the land being claimed as a lake, has been private property.
On April 22, 2025, the City Civil Court had dismissed BRS leader Edla Sudhakar Reddy’s civil lawsuit claiming ownership of Bathukamma Kunta land.
On February 18, 2025, HYDRAA had already commenced works for the restoration of Bathukamma Kunta, when just digging a few feet had shown water gushing out of the land.
As per 1962-63 records, Bathukamma Kunta, located in survey number 563, was spread across 14.06 acres. Combining the buffer zone, the total extent of that ‘Shikham Land‘ was 16.13 acres. However, due to large-scale encroachments over the past couple of decades, the water body has shrunk to a mere 5.15 acres presently.
However, right after winning the case in the City Civil Court, HYDRAA took up Bathukamma Kunta’s restoration by constructing children’s parks, open gym, gates, fencing, sign boards, and certain diversion of drain waters from the lake, which had become a sewage pond by then.
The Telangana High Court, in its order on March 23, 2026, took to task HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath, holding him responsible for contempt of court.
The Court had directed Ranganath to remove all structures and signages erected on seven acres of land forming part of Bathukammakunta in Amberpet and restore it to its original position within four weeks.
The court had ordered HYDRAA to pull down all markers, signages and structures that indicated its ownership of or authority over the land, including gates, walls, boards and any signage suggesting the land was a public facility under HYDRAA’s control or that access to it was subject to designated timings.
This was when HYDRAA appealed in the Supreme Court, only to be told that when the case was pending in the High Court, the apex court couldn’t pass an order.
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