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PIL against state land for TRS offices

Petitioner claims costly land is being given to parties at throwaway prices.

Hyderabad: A public interest litigation has been filed before the Telangana High Court seeking a direction to suspend GOs No. 168 and 66, through which one acre of land in 24 district headquarters towns has been allotted to the TRS for the purpose of constructing its party office.

Mr Medipally Satyam of Korutlapeta in Karimn-agar district filed the petition stating that the state government had allotted the land at Rs 100 per square yard. This was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, he stated.

Mr Satyam said the price of land in the district headquarters towns was skyrocketing and it stood on an average of about Rs 20,000 per square yard. The government had decided to allot such valuable land to the party at paltry rates.

“In the way of implementing the government’s decision, the special chief secretary to the government, revenue department, has issued GOs 167 and 66, suppressing GO Ms No. 826 issued in 1987 in united AP,” Mr Satyam explained.

He said the new government orders had bypassed GO Ms No. 826 of August 31, 1987, which provided guidelines for leasing land to political parties to construct their party offices. He said the leases were to be reviewed after 30 years. The state has issued fresh GOs that were contrary to the guidelines of the old order to favour the TRS, he said.

Revenue special chief secretary and principal secretary, Chief Commissioner of Land Administration were made the respondents from the government side,

On the political side, Mr Satyam listed the TRS, the Congress, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress as respondents apart from the Bharatiya Janata Parry, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Communist Party of Indian and the CPI(M).

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