IPS officers approach Telangana HC over Bhoodan land issue

Hyderabad: Several IPS officers have approached the Telangana High Court in connection with the Bhoodan land issue. The court, which took up the matter on April 24, ordered that lands belonging to 27 officers be placed on the prohibited list.

On Wednesday, Ravi Gupta IPS, Tarun Joshi IPS, Smt. Renu Goyal wife of Jitender Goyal IPS, M.M. Bhagavat IPS, Sowmya Mishra IPS, Swati Lakra IPS, Smt. Rekha Sharaff, wife of former IPS officer Umesh Sharaff and others have filed Writ Appeals, challenging the order of Single Judge, Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, seeking DISMISSAL of the order of the Single Judge.

Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, while dealing with the Writ Petition filed by Birla Mahesh (Whistleblower) in a complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission and the CMO, contended that there was a large scale fraud on the part of the Revenue and Registration Department officials which include senior IAS and IPS officers (from AP and Telangana), which lead to the illegal sale and transfers of 26 acres Government Bhoodan land, located in Survey Numbers 180 and 182 of Nagaram Village, Maheshwaram Mandal, Rangareddy worth crores of rupees.

Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy stayed all further transactions relating to a major land scam involving over 26 acres Government Bhoodan land, issued Notices to all the 14 IAS and IPS officers and directed the State Government to INCLUDE the lands in Sy.Nos.181, 182, 194, and 195 of Nagaram Village, Maheshwaram Mandal, Ranga Reddy District in the list of prohibited properties.

The said 26 acres of Government lands were donated for the poor was being siphoned off by private powerful persons viz., Navin Mittal, Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, Aishwarya Rai, Dr. Gyanmundra, Ravi Gupta IPS, Tarun Joshi IPS, Smt. Renu Goyal wife of Jitender Goyal IPS, Sowmya Mishra IPS, Swati Lakra IPS, Smt. Rekha Sharaff, wife of former IPS officer Umesh Sharaff, and sons, daughters, wives of IPS and IAS officers.

The plea may come before the High Court Division Bench soon.

Background of the case

The controversy revolves around 50 acres of land in Nagaram, Maheshwaram Mandal, Ranga Reddy district, worth hundreds of billions. The Bhoodan Yagna Board claims ownership of the land, saying that it was donated for the benefit of the underprivileged.

However, E.I.P.L. Construction has challenged this, claiming that previous transactions were permitted by authorities and are now being considered illegal.

Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy sent summons to IAS and IPS officers and their family members who purchased the property, requesting them to respond as to why an inquiry by the CBI or ED was not ordered.

Top officials who received notices in the matter include Navin Mittal IAS, D. Amoy Kumar IAS, S Harish IAS, Ravi Gupta IPS, Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat IPS, T. Srinivas Rao IPS, Sowmya Mishra IPS, Swati Lakra IPS, and Tarun Joshi IPS. The names of certain high officials' wives were also included on the list of respondents.

The CBI, ED, Union Home Ministry, and DoPT were also given notices by the judge to reply to a petition that called for action against the authorities for egregious infractions and to conduct the CBI and ED investigation.

The judge directed the Ranga Reddy District Collector and District Registrar to include the lands in Sy. Nos. 181, 182, 194, and 195 of Nagaram, Maheshwaram mandal, Ranga Reddy district, are on the list of prohibited properties, in light of the serious allegations made against people in positions of power and the potential misuse of their power for vested interest.

After taking into account the arguments, the judge halted the purchase transaction for the contested land and sent notices to all 76 respondents, both official and informal. They must all submit a counter on or before June 12, 2025.