Telangana HC Restrains Government from Cutting Trees in Kancha Gachibowli Lands

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to stop felling trees in the disputed 400-acre land in Survey Number 25 at Kancha Gachibowli in Hyderabad until Thursday evening.

The division bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara, issued oral directions to Advocate General A. Sudharshan Reddy, asking him to inform the government to halt felling of trees, which had been ongoing for three days, until Thursday.

The court issued the directive after hearing arguments in public interest litigations challenging GO 54, which authorised the alienation of 400 acres of land in Survey Number 25 of Kancha Gachibowli to TGIIC for the development of IT infrastructure.

During the hearing, the Bench asked the Advocate General how the government could claim that the land in question had been designated as industrial land since 2003 when such a classification was not recorded in revenue records or in any previous judgments related to the land disputes.

Senior counsel S. Niranjan Reddy, appearing for Vata Foundation, a registered environmental non-profit organisation, informed the court that the government had been razing trees for the past three days using massive machinery, despite the High Court’s March 24 order directing the government to explain why the GO should not be stayed by April 7.

He stated that the government proceeded with felling trees even though the court had seized the matter, arguing that the government’s actions amounted to contempt of Supreme Court orders in cases related to identifying forest-like lands.

He further brought to the court’s notice that, according to the WALTA Act, appropriate permission is required to fell even a one-metre-high plant. However, he said the state government had razed thousands of large trees on more than half of the disputed land without obtaining approval from the revenue and forest departments.

Another senior counsel, L. Ravichander, appearing for retired scientist Kalapala Babu Rao, who opposed the razing of trees and the issuance of GO 54, argued that Rule 16 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam Rules 2023 mandates that state governments and Union Territories prepare a consolidated record of lands where the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act 2023 applies. This includes "forest-like areas" identified by expert committees, unclassified forest lands, and community forest lands.

However, the senior counsel stated that it was unclear whether the Telangana state government had constituted an expert committee to study forest-like lands. He further elaborated on the varieties of flora and fauna, including various animal and bird species, as well as the presence of mushroom rocks in the disputed land.

Advocate General A. Sudharshan Reddy argued that the land had been classified as industrial land since 2003 and that none of the petitioners had approached the court to challenge its allocation to IMG Bharata Academics during the tenure of N. Chandrababu Naidu.

The AG further questioned how the petitioners could claim the land was forest-like merely by referring to Google Maps and citing the presence of peacocks and some animals.

The Bench adjourned the hearing to the afternoon of April 3.