Telangana HC asks state to prepare prohibited properties list, circulate it to sub-registrars
In case of failure, the Chief Secretary has been warned to appear in person before the court on September 3
By Newsmeter Network
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Hyderabad: Telangana High Court has directed the state government to prepare a comprehensive, updated list of prohibited properties and circulate it to all sub-registrars within nine weeks.
The court also directed Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao to file an affidavit within 10 days confirming whether district collectors had been assigned the task and if the work was underway.
In case of failure, the Chief Secretary has been warned to appear in person before the court on September 3 to explain the reasons.
Thousands of disputes pending
The direction came in response to submissions before Justice Jukanti Anil Kumar that thousands of disputes under Section 22-A of the Stamps and Registrations Act were piling up due to the absence of a clear and updated list of prohibited properties.
Justice Anil Kumar pointed out that his court alone was dealing with over 5,100 such cases, mostly petitions challenging refusals by sub-registrars to register land transactions.
He also noted that despite a full bench of the High Court issuing similar directions over a decade ago, citizens were still left without clarity.
Special Committee Constituted
Government Pleader for Revenue, Katram Muralidhar Reddy, informed the court that the government had issued GO Ms No. 98 on August 23, 2025, constituting a three-member high-level committee to deal with the issue.
The panel will be headed by the Secretary to the Government and Chief Commissioner of Land Administration as chairman, with a retired district judge (to be appointed) as member, and the Commissioner of Survey and Settlement as member-convener.
Powers and Tenure of the Panel
The committee has been empowered to scrutinise land records and pass reasoned orders to confirm, delete, or modify entries in the prohibited properties list. Its orders will be binding on both the government and affected parties, though aggrieved individuals can still approach competent courts.
The committee will function for three years and is mandated to meet at least once every month to clear pending cases.
