Telangana HC refuses to stay allocation of 6.5 acres prime land to build Kapu community bhavan

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday refused to give a stay order on the government’s allocation of prime land for the construction of a community bhavan for the Kapu community in Khanamet village, Serilingampally mandal, Rangareddy district.

According to the petitioner, 6.35 acres of prime land worth Rs 700 crores in the market was given at a throwaway price of Rs 100 per acre to the Viswa Balija Kapu, Telaga, Ontari, Turpu Kapu, Sangala Samakya to appease a particular caste.

The petitioner said that this move by the thereby violated various Supreme Court judgments, which clearly said that the States are the custodians of its lands and such lands should be protected at all costs and cannot be frittered away.

However, the Division Bench refused to stay GO 87, dated August 2, 2023, through which the land was allotted to the community. However, the court sent notices to the State government asking them to respond to the issue within four weeks.

Previous such allocations also questioned

While presenting the arguments for the case, the counsel for the petitioner Shashi Kiran, mentioned a similar case that was brought to the court’s attention.

He mentioned the court order passed by the same court on June 28 this year where a Division Bench of the court stayed a GO allotting five acres of prime land in Khanamet village to the All India Velama Association and Kamma Vari Sangala Samakhya at a throwaway price for construction of their respective community bhavans.

The associations were allotted five acres of prime land, each, located in Survey No 41/14 in Khanamet village, Serilingampally mandal, Ranga Reddy district. GO No 47 Revenue (Assn 11) Department, dated June 30, was issued in this regard.

Challenging such an allotment, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by retired economics professor A Vinayak Reddy of Kakatiya University, Warangal, a resident of Kompally, Medchal-Malkajgiri district, stating that the state government has not followed due procedure while allotting the five acres of land to the Velama and Kamma communities each for the construction of their community bhavans. He said there was no land auction or tenders called before the allotment of the land.

The counsel for the petitioners had told the court that people belonging to the Kamma and Velama communities are affluent. The Chief Justice directed the state to ensure that there is no further construction on the land allotted to the two communities till further orders.

After hearing the arguments, the Chief Justice Bench while issuing notices to the officials, directed them to file their response. It observed that the court cannot pass an ex-parte order of staying the GO without hearing the other side and further said that an interim order passed by a coordinating bench is not binding precedent and declined the plea of the petitioner to stay the GO allotting 6.35 acres of land for the construction of the community bhavan.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, issued notices to the principal secretary to the government, Revenue (Land Administration-II), chief commissioner of Land Administration, Rangareddy district collector and the Viswa Balija Kapu, Telaga, Ontari, Turpu Kapu, Sangala Samakya office at MP, MLA office, Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, directing them to respond to the notices within four weeks.

The Division Bench was adjudicating the PIL filed by Sunkara Naresh, a practising advocate cum human rights activist, seeking a stay on the GO 87 through which the erstwhile BRS government had allotted 6.35 acres of prime land to the community for constructing a community bhavan from where to run the affairs of the respective caste and to have community celebrations.