State Failed to Give Alternative Land to a Displaced Woman for 20 Years, Now Wants to Set Aside the Compensation Amount Imposed on It
The court had also awarded Chinnamma Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses in repeatedly approaching the authorities and ultimately being forced to knock on the doors of the High Court.
Hyderabad:The state government, which has not allotted an alternative two-acre piece of land for a project-displaced elderly woman for 20 years, has approached the Telangana High Court seeking a direction to set aside the Rs10 lakh compensation that it has been ordered to pay for keeping her running between offices and approaching the court for two decades. Even though it appealed for relief, the government is still to allot the woman, Dhanthakala Chinnamma, the two acres of alternative land despite the order of a single judge specifically ordering it in March 2026 to give her possession of the land within four weeks.
The irony before a division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy was that the state was seeking relief from the compensation amount that a single judge had imposed on it for the delay, even though the authorities had not complied with the principal direction to allot the alternative agricultural land and hand over its possession to Chinnamma. The state’s contention was that it did not have land in the district to allot her.
The government acquired Chinnamma`s agriculture land in 2006 for the Sriramsagar project (SRSP), and allocated her an alternative two acres in Bolapur-II village of Mallapur mandal in Karimnagar district, vide D-I patta certificate. But, survey and revenue authorities did not give her possession, stating that third party persons were in possession of the land. This went on for two decades.
Chinnamma approached the High Court following which the single judge, in an order dated March 10, 2026, had directed the authorities to allot suitable agricultural land under the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme, demarcate it and give Chinnamma possession within four weeks, besides issuing pattadar passbook and title deed.
The single judge had also ordered that the state pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the loss of agricultural income that Chinnamma suffered for 20 years. The judge had calculated the average crop yield and agricultural income that could have been generated from the two acres and held that she could have earned approximately that amount had the state given her the allotted land in 2006.
The court had also awarded Chinnamma Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses in repeatedly approaching the authorities and ultimately being forced to knock on the doors of the High Court.
Despite the March 10 order, Chinnama told the division bench, she had still not been allotted an alternative site and possession not handed over. The state, meanwhile, sought setting aside of the `10 lakh compensation, contending that the authorities could not find the surplus land or any government land in the district to offer her.
The division bench of Chief Justice Singh and Justice Ramakrishna Reddy directed the authorities to first allot the land to Chinnamma and submit a report to the court in two weeks . Thereafter it would consider the state`s request to set aside the compensation amount imposed on it.