HC: PIL claims Telangana state allotted land worth Rs 300 crore for meditation centre

Hyderabad: On Monday, the Telangana High Court was asked to cancel the allotment of 3.7 acres by the state government for establishing an International Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Hyderabad. According to the PIL, the land can be worth around Rs 300 crore.

Hyderabad advocate, Sri Koti Raghunatha Rao, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking court orders to set aside GO 126 dated November 26, 2021, issued by the Telangana government for this purpose.

Further, the petitioner was also upset with the state government for sanctioning Rs 3 crores of financial assistance per annum for the maintenance of the centre. The petitioner said that allotting such precious prime government land to a private institution is in violation of the Telangana Urban Areas (Development) Act, 1975.

“Though there is no provision in the HMDA Act 2008 for allotment of such prime land in such a manner, the state has allotted the land under discretionary quota, without giving a public notice,” the petitioner said.

The petitioner further said that there is every possibility of the trust misusing the land, which is worth around Rs 300 crores. “The conditions in the Trust Deed were amended for this allotment,” the petitioner alleged.

The chief secretary, secretary of Legal Affairs, Legislative Affairs and Justice, Law Department, secretary of Revenue Department, and the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Ashok Vihar Road, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad are the respondents in the PIL.