Hyderabad High Court issues notice to Telangana over land at Gachibowli

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Telangana state government, TSIIC and IKEA India Pvt Ltd directing them to file counter-affidavits on a PIL by Congress MLA A. Revanth Reddy Court challenging alienation of 13.10 acres land at Gachibowli to the international furniture manufacturer to establish a showroom near the Hitec City.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice V. Ramasubramanian while dealing with the PIL granted two weeks time to the respondents to file their affidavits. Senior counsel C.V. Mohan Reddy appearing for the petitioner told the court that the government has alienated the land without inviting the bids and the land was allocated on nomination basis, which has caused Rs 500 crore loss to the exchequer.

He submitted that the government has reserved 3.17 acres out of 13.10 acres to purchase by IKEA after five years by paying Rs 19.21 crore per acre and as of now the government has received only Rs 33 crore in this transaction. The bench asked the additional advocate-general of Telangana state to instruct the authorities concerned not to take further steps with regard to 3.17 acres.