Revenue officials gift land worth Rs 2,500 cr to realty firm

Hyderabad: Telangana state revenue officials have gifted land worth Rs 2,500 crore near Jubilee Hills in the city to a private individual, who is allegedly a benami of a top realty firm, according to information obtained by Deccan Chronicle.

The revenue officials declared 54 acres of ’kancha sarkari’ (government) land in Survey No. 63 of Guttalabegumpet village as private patta land a few days ago and removed the prohibitory order issued under Section 22A of the Registration Act, 1908, thereby facilitating registration on the property.

Though the largesse was kept under wraps, the recent income-tax raids on city-based realty firms brought to fore the land deals that were concluded with the nexus of state government officials. The realty firm is said to have been so confident of a favourable order from the government that it formed a layout on paper and sold plots, through agreement of sale, at Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per square yard even before the prohibitory orders were lifted.

Inquiries by Deccan Chronicle revealed that the modus operandi of the government losing rights over its land was the same as was adopted in the cases of Sakkubai Layout in Manikonda and vacant land adjacent to the IKEA showroom in Raidurg. Senior revenue officials gave up decades-old claim of ownership of the government, which had been clearly mentioned in the revenue records and that too with no specific directions from the judiciary to give away the land to private parties.

In the case of the Rs 2,500 crore worth Jubilee Hills land, sources said the private parties claimed that 54 acres belonged to one Khaja Kareemullah Khan who got the land from the Nizam. Their claims had been rejected from the 1950s onwards by different authorities including the previous heads of the revenue department. “The parties also approached the courts but till date there is no order confirming that the land belonged to them and directing the government to declare it as private land and remove the prohibitory orders,” sources said.

With the 54 acres being located adjacent to MCR HRD institute in Jubilee Hills, the posh locality in the capital city, several big wigs paid huge advances to the realty firm and bought plots in the prospective layout. The firm also promised an international class township.