Telangana HC Seeks Response on Khajaguda Land Row
According to the petition, permissions were granted to Beverly Hills Owners Welfare Society for the construction of eight towers of 47 storeys each on the land, a portion of which falls in the full tank level (FTL) of a lake.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday ordered notices to state authorities including HYDRAA, GHMC and HMDA in a PIL filed by four Congress MLAs with regard to their petition alleging landgrabbing and encroachment of over 27 acres of government land in Survey No. 27 of Khajaguda village, Ranga Reddy district, valued at over Rs.2,000 crore.
The ruling party MLAs in their PIL had claimed and inaction on the part of the government and the civic authorities in protecting the land. A panel comprising acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara was dealing with the PIL filed by Congress legislators J. Anirudh Reddy, Y. Srinivas Reddy, Dr Murali Naik Bhukya and Dr K.K. Rajesh Reddy.
The petitioners accused several revenue and municipal officials of colluding with private developers to unlawfully permit the construction of eight luxury towers on prime state land originally classified as "poramboke" (non-assigned government land) since the 1950s.
According to the petition, permissions were granted to Beverly Hills Owners Welfare Society for the construction of eight towers of 47 storeys each on the land, a portion of which falls in the full tank level (FTL) of a lake. A ready-mix cement plant to prepare building construction material was installed within 150 metres from Oakridge School, in violation of environmental and municipal norms, the PIL said.
The MLAs cited multiple official documents, including Khasra Pahanis, Sethwar records and historical High Court rulings, to assert that the land belonged to the state and not to the private respondents who were carrying out construction through DGPA (development agreement-cum-general power of attorney) arrangements.
The petitioners stated that the transfer of land to Beverly Hills Owners Welfare Society was not valid in the eyes of the law, and many reports about the fraud of the public authorities were published in the newspapers.
Counsel for the petitioner Chikkudu Prabhakar alleged that the former collector of Ranga Reddy district had directed the GHMC to grant permission for construction of the huge towers with total plinth area of 50 lakh square feet despite being aware that the land belonged to the government.
It was further alleged that during his tenure, the past district collector transferred the government land, Boodhan land and other valuable land belonging to the GHMC and the HMDA to private individuals by misusing the Dharani portal.