Nagaram Land: High Court Relief To Some IPS, IAS Officers
With Friday’s orders of the division bench, the land in Survey No. 194 and 195 would need to be removed from the prohibition list and transactions allowed.
Hyderabad:A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Friday partially suspended the orders of the single judge bench, which had recently dismissed the applications filed by a few IAS and IPS officers seeking to remove their land from prohibited list and allow transactions in Survey No. 194 and 195 of Nagaram village.
With Friday’s orders of the division bench, the land in Survey No. 194 and 195 would need to be removed from the prohibition list and transactions allowed.
The division bench comprising Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar issued the orders while dealing with the appeals filed by former chief secretary Somesh Kumar’s wife Dr Gyanmudra, retired IPS officer A.K. Mohanty and IPS officers Ravi Gupta, Tarun Joshi, Battula Hemalatha, wife of DGP B. Shivadhar Reddy and others, who sought setting aside of the single judge orders passed on October 17.
While dealing a petition alleging that senior IAS and IPS officers had fraudulently purchased land in Survey No.s 181, 182, 194 and 195 of Nagaram, Maheshwaram mandal, by misuing their position and resorting to forgery, fabrication of documents and tampering with revenue records, which paved the way for “transfer of Bhoodan and gairan land on to their names,” Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy on April 24, in interim orders, had directed the Rangareddy district collector to place the land parcels in the prohibitory list and directed that no alteration or modification be allowed on them.
Challenging the interim orders, a few officers filed interim applications with regard to land they had purchased in Survey No.s 194 and 195, claiming that it was not Bhoodan land. The Rangareddy collector also submitted a report that the land in the two survey numbers were not Bhoodan land. The Bhoodan Yagna Board also submitted that its land fell only in Survey No.s 181 and 182.
Noting that submissions that there were a few portions of gairan (government) land in Survey No.s 194 and 195, the single judge bench headed by Justice K. Lakshman on October 17 was not inclined to vacate the orders passed on April 24. The judge said that prima facie there were serious allegations against revenue officials of Rangareddy district in the transactions and the judge said that these aspects required examination.
The division bench on Friday heard appeals filed challenging the orders. Senior counsels S. Niranjan Reddy and Kondam Vivek Reddy arguing for the IAS and IPS officers cited the counter affidavit dated 10-6-2025 filed by the Rangareddy collector stating that the land in Survey No.s 194 and 195 were patta land parcels and not ghairan. They also brought to the notice of the court the counter of the Enforcement Directorate.
Senior counsels contended that officers, most of whom are on the verge of retirement and some in senior positions, had purchased the land in Survey No.s 194 and 195 by pooling their hard-earned money and intended to construct houses. At the fag end of their service, they were subjected the ordeal of facing a contempt case for alleged constructions in Survey No.s 194 and 195.
The division bench then partially suspended the single judge orders in related to the land in Survey No.s 194 and 195 of Nagaram. It did not intervene in the single judge orders with regard to land in Survey No.s 181 and 182.
