Telangana HC stays construction of Velama, Kamma bhavans on govt-allotted land

Hyderabad: On Wednesday, the Telangana High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji directed the state government to ensure that construction doesn’t continue on five acres of prime land, allotted to the All-India Velama Association and the Kamma Vari Seva Sanghala Samakhya for their 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 prior to the allotment of the land.

Prior to Wednesday’s hearing, the Chief Justice Bench, during an earlier course of adjudication of the PIL, had said that such an allotment of land to a particular community for the construction of their community bhavans will encourage caste politics and issued notices to the state government.

The counsel for the petitioners 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.