Hyderabad High Court asks if Supreme Court has pending land plea

The bench was dealing with a petition by A. Jaya Rao and two others from Guntur district challenging the action of the Andhra Pradesh government in exempting the Capital City Development Project from the application of the provisions of Chapter II and III of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, as amended by Ordinance 4 of 2015, on the ground of public interest.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that capital city development is not included in the 10A (1) of the Ordinance 4 of 2015 and therefore, the government has no power to exempt the project under the Ordinance. While pointing out that development means not only construction of housing it includes infrastructure development by providing road and rail facilities to the people, the bench asked the counsel to place the details before it including any cases pending before the Apex Court challenging the Centre’s Ordinance on Land Acquisition within four weeks.

Justice Raja Elango of the Hyderabad High Court dismissed the bail plea of P. Rajeswar alias Raju, prime accused in the murder a retired aeronautical engineer in the old city. According to the prosecution, Rajeswar had allegedly killed Syed Nooruddin on January 18, 2015, while he was returning from a mosque. The murder led to communal tension in the area.

Additional public prosecutor D. Rami Reddy, opposing the bail application, said Nooruddin had objected to Rajeswar using a loudspeaker at high volume at his home, which had angered the petitioner. Mr Rami Reddy told the court that the incident had not only led to communal tension in the area but also created law and order problems in the old city. Enlarging him on bail would create communal tension. Considering the argu