Telangana HC unhappy with CS for ignoring orders in disputed lands petitions

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the non-compliance of its earlier directions regarding the disputed lands listed under Section 22-A of the Registration Act.

The court noted that the chief secretary had failed to file the required affidavit within the stipulated time and did not appear before the court despite being directed to do so.

Justice Jukanti Anil Kumar, while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the refusal of sub registrars to register lands citing their inclusion in the prohibited list, remarked that such indifference from the Chief Secretary was unexpected and diminished the prestige of his office.

The court also criticised the fact that no memo was filed seeking an exemption from personal appearance.

Judge issues stern warning

Issuing a stern warning, the judge granted a final opportunity, giving one week’s time to file the affidavit. The court made it clear that if the affidavit was not submitted within the deadline, the chief secretary must personally appear in the next hearing.

The judge cautioned that continued negligence would compel the court to take strict action.

Earlier, the High Court had directed that details of the prohibited lands should be furnished to Sub-Registrars within nine weeks and that an affidavit explaining the steps taken in this process should be filed within 10 days. Since these directions were not complied with, the judge questioned the government pleader, Katram Muralidhar Reddy.

The government pleader informed the court that the state was in the process of collecting details and would take further steps after completing this exercise, while seeking additional time. However, the court made it clear that an affidavit from the chief secretary was mandatory to explain the measures already initiated regarding the communication of land details to Sub-Registrars.

Adjourning the matter, the court posted the next hearing to September 10 and reiterated that indifference would not be tolerated.