Hyderabad: The TS government has repealed AP Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 and transferred all land grabbing cases pending in special courts and tribunals to the city civil courts and district courts. Orders to this effect were issued on Wednesday.
The government felt that the Act failed to serve the desired purpose as a large number of land-grabbing cases have been pending for years while they were supposed to be disposed of in six months under the Act.
The orders, issued by revenue principal secretary B.R. Meena, stated, “The Act was enacted in AP government in 1982 to curb the illegal activities of land grabbers. The objective was to dispose of the cases within a period of six months. After formation of Telangana state, the functioning and efficacy of the special courts and special tribunals were examined and it was noticed that these objectives were not achieved and there are instances that took years in taking cognizance of the cases itself.” Therefore, he said, it was decided to repeal the Act, 1982 in Telangana from June 1, 2016.
All cases of post cognizance pending before the special courts and special tribunals have been transferred to the courts of chief judge, city civil court, Hyderabad or principal district judges of the respective district courts.
All appeals pending before the special court have been transferred to the Hyderabad High Court.
Any case remanded by the High Court or the Supreme Court arising out of orders or judgments passed under the AP Act, 12/1982, to the special courts/special tribunals, shall be dealt with by the courts of chief judge, city civil court, Hyderabad or district courts. Any case remanded by the Supreme Court arising out of judgment or order passed under the AP Act, 12/1982, shall be disposed of by the HC.
TS action came at the last possible minute
As per Section 101 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Telangana State government is empowered to make such adaptations and modifications of any law (as defined in Section 2(f) of the Act) made before June 2, 2014, whether by way of repeal or amendment as may be necessary, for the purpose of facilitating the application of such law in the TS before expiration of two years from June 2, 2014. Based on this provision, the TS government repealed the AP Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982, with immediate effect on the last day of expiry date.
