Why land was allocated to director N Shankar at throwaway price: HC to T govt

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court, on 4 May, asked the state government to explain the rationale behind allotting five acres of prime land at a nominal price of Rs. 5 lakh per acre to film director and producer N. Shankar. The land is located at Mokila village, Shankarpally, in Ranga Reddy district.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice R.S Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy also ordered the parties concerned to maintain a status quo in the case. Observing that the director did not appear before the court either in person or through his advocate despite serving a notice, the Bench warned that it will proceed ex-parte against him if he does not appear before the court during the next hearing. It asked the High Court registry to send a reminder notice to the director to appear before the court and later adjourned the case for six weeks.

The division Bench passed these orders while dealing with a PIL filed by J. Shankar, a resident of Dharmapuri in Jagitiyal district. In his petition, Mr Shankar had urged the HC to declare the order, number 75, issued on 21 June 2019 by the municipal administration and urban development department of the state allotting the land to Shankar as illegal and set aside the same.