Telangana HC settles 40-year-old land dispute, raps officer

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has settled a 40-year-long dispute regarding more than 40 acres of land in Jangaon district. It also rebuked a state-appointed officer for inaction which kept the two generations locked in litigation.

On November 12, a bench comprising Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar dismissed a writ appeal filed by the officer calling it, “meritless, completely misconceived and tainted with mala fides in misleading the court.”

The bench further said that the injury caused to the petitioner due to appellant’s inaction can’t be measured in monetary terms. According to reports, the current value of the disputed land is Rs 50 crore. It spans across Raghnathpalli, Jangaon and Palakurthy.

The property was originally owned by two brothers Nooruddin Hasan and Saifuddin Khalid before they migrated to Pakistan after the partition in 1947. Their sister Saleha Fatima purchased the land by paying Rs 38,415 through a registered sale certificate.

After Fatima died in 1987, the legal heirs have been engaged in the dispute after seeking mutation of land records.

The division bench ordered that the petition be disposed within four weeks from November 12.

In 2000, the High Court directed the heirs to approach the competent officer under the evacuee interest (separation) Act. The competent officer is the present appellant. Despite submitting all documents the heirs received no decision, and the evacuee interest (separation) Act was repealed in the meantime.

In July 2025, the Telangana High Court imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 50,000. The High Court also penalised officials of the Evacuee Interest Separation Act for not issuing sale certificates of evacuee properties which were bought by a private person in 1962.

An officer was directed to pay the costs in favour of the Sainik Welfare Board, Telangana or Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, Telangana, within four weeks. The court considered the pain that three generations of the private persons endured.

The court observed that two generations had to suffer while contesting for their rights, and the third generation, who is also engaged in the matter for enjoyment of the fruits of the sale certificate, which was executed on December 17, 1962.