Hyderabad: The High Court of Telangana on Wednesday stayed the state government’s acquisition of the 20 acres of land in University of Hyderabad (UoH).
A bench of the acting Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice T. Vinod Kumar was hearing a writ appeal filed by UoH challenging the earlier dismissed petition which questioned the G.O. Ms. No 1473 of 2008 allotting 25.31 acres of land to private persons, as reported by The Hindu.
The bench issued notices to the respondents and asked them to file counter-affidavits. The counsel for the respondents informed the bench that earlier the university had agreed to allot 21 acres of land to his clients. He claimed that the University was now objecting to part with 25 acres of land now.
Questioning the state’s treatment of UoH, Justice MS Ramachandra Rao argued that the central government should not give more institutions to Telangana if this is how the latter wished to treat them. “This is something astonishing…no government does treat a prestigious Central institution in this shabby way,” he observed.
The acting chief justice further argued that the state should support the institution instead of treating it “so shabbily”.
Encroaching on the University’s land has been an old issue and has time and again witnessed protests from the students, teachers, and administration of the institution. In January of this year, a 100 feet compound wall was demolished adjacent to the Indian School of Business to make way for the construction of a road meant for a housing society.
The UoH students’ union alleged that members of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) party were behind the illegal encroachment.