Congress govt claims ownership of 400 acres in Kancha Gachibowli, releases timeline to show transfer of ownership from UoH
After HCU clarified that no survey had been done by the revenue department to alienate the land, the government claimed full ownership
By Coreena Suares
Congress govt claims ownership of 400 acres in Kancha Gachibowli, releases timeline to show transfer of ownership from UoHHyderabad: In the ongoing battle between the Government of Telangana and the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) about the auction of 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli, the Congress Government, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, have released a detailed note on the ownership of the land.
After HCU clarified that no survey had been done by the revenue department to alienate the land, the government claimed full ownership.
The University of Hyderabad issued a clarification that revenue authorities on the university campus did not conduct any survey in July 2024 to demarcate the 400 acres recovered by the State Government in 2006 from IMG Academies Bharata Pvt Ltd. However, the State government claimed ownership over the 400 acres.
'Courts ruled in favour of State government'
It detailed a timeline of sales, which it claimed formed the basis of its ownership:
1. During the United Andhra Pradesh, the State government in 2000 alienated the 400 acres in favour of a sports management company, IMG Bharata, a fully owned subsidiary of IMG Florida, represented by a person named Billy Rao.
2. The then TDP-led government took the decision. At that time, the State government provided an alternative to the 400 acres to the Hyderabad Central University, which the varsity accepted, thus permanently relinquishing all and any claims of ownership over the said tract of land. It may be noted that the Central University had yielded the allotment of land to the sports entity by taking alternative land in exchange.
3. Subsequently, the then Congress government annulled the contract as being opposed to public policy by enacting a law. After the cancellation, the private entity took the case to the judiciary.
4. First, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and then the High Court of Telangana (writ petition no. 24781) heard the case. All subsequent governments continued the argument that the land belonged to the State government.
5. The case was pursued by the current Congress government, which finally ruled the case in favour of the State government. Thus, the government was able to retrieve the 400 acres of land worth thousands of crores.
6. The Supreme Court of India (SLP No 9265) also ruled in favour of the Telangana government.
7. The land comes under survey no. 25 of the Kancha Gachibowli village, where the word ākanchaā refers to grazing lands (unproductive land). It is reflected as revenue land from the earliest revenue records. It was not notified as forest lands.
8. Consequently, the land in survey no. 25 was handed over to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) by the revenue authorities after conducting the panchanama. The land parcel does not include Buffalo Lake and Peacock Lake. Based on survey observations on the ground, the TGIIC prepared a layout duly preserving the rock formations, including the Mushroom Rock, within the layout. Further, as part of the master plan, a detailed Environment Management Plan (EMP) is also being prepared that will ensure sustainable development of the region. The facts stated above prove two points, i.e., not one inch of land in possession of the TGIIC belongs to the University of Hyderabad.
10. During the process of TGIIC taking over its land after years of legal cases, the State governmentās revenue authorities and TGIIC ensured they did the process in the presence of the UoH authorities so that they were convinced that not one inch of land belonging to the university was being touched.
