Shamshabad Land Scam: Collector’s Note Raises More Questions than Answers
The collector also mentioned the latest orders in his clarificatory note and assured to protect the government lands by taking due legal course after the summer vacation of the High Court.
Hyderabad: There seems to be more than what meets the eye in the alleged Rs.1,000-crore land scam on the outskirts of Hyderabad, which was highlighted by former minister and BRS leader T. Harish Rao on Tuesday.
An official note issued by Rangareddy district collector C. Narayana Reddy with regard 170 acres in survey numbers 172 to 183 in Pedda Shapur village in Shamshabad mandal has revealed startling facts rather than turning down the allegations of the opposition leader. “It established the nexus between the private parties claiming ownership and the authorities concerned whose orders in favour of the former raised serious questions over protecting the public property worth hundreds of crores of rupees,” said Harish Rao.
It all started with an order from the revenue divisional officer, Rajendranagar, to take possession of 75 acres in survey numbers 172 to 183, which were already included in the prohibitory list under Section 22A of the Registration Act on February 24, 2026.
Within three days, the High Court — in a contempt petition moved by Nawab Mohd Yousufuddin Khan and others claiming ownership of 94.28 acres under the same survey numbers — issued orders to mutate the names of petitioners for these lands. Khan and others accused the revenue authorities of not implementing the previous orders issued by the High Court in Writ Petition Number 1550 of 2025.
A perusal of orders by Deccan Chronicle revealed that Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, while disposing WP 1550 of 2025, stated that the court would not go into the merits of the case since the state government mentioned that the said parcel of land forms part of CS 7 of 1958. The High Court only asked the revenue officials to dispose of the representation filed by the petitioners by passing a reasoned order within eight weeks.
However, Justice Bhaskar Reddy, while disposing of the contempt petition on February 27, 2026, directed the tahsildar to mutate the names of the petitioners. “The government has a fit case to immediately file a review petition challenging the orders issued in the contempt case, but it was not done,” said a senior revenue official.
Meanwhile, a company named Omkar Carriers and Movers, which claims ownership of the same lands, filed WP 10901 of 2026 before another Bench. The court, on April 16, 2026, ordered a status quo on the same lands.
When the contempt case was again taken up by Justice Bhaskar Reddy on April 20, 2026, the GP Revenue brought the status quo orders issued in WP 10901 of 2026, but the latter proceeded with his orders based on the contention of Yousufuddin Khan and four others that lands for which status quo orders were issued were different and distinct from lands for which they are claiming ownership. The judge asked the revenue authorities to exempt lands involved in WP 10901 of 2026.
“The government would have preferred an appeal against contempt at this stage at least because there were conflicting orders from two different benches involving the same lands,” highly placed sources in the revenue department told Deccan Chronicle.
Meanwhile, the High Court extended the status quo orders in WP 10901 of 2026 on April 28, 2026, and on the next day, Justice Bhaskar Reddy, in an apparent modification of his earlier orders, directed the revenue authorities to maintain the status quo and not to effect any mutations for the said lands.
The collector also mentioned the latest orders in his clarificatory note and assured to protect the government lands by taking due legal course after the summer vacation of the High Court.
