Telangana High Court
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
The Telangana High Court on Thursday served notice on the State government in a PIL petition challenging the allotment of over six acres of prime real estate in the State capital to Viswa Balija, Kapu, Thelaga, Vontari, Thurpukapu Sanghala Samakhya.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, hearing the PIL petition filed by an advocate, directed the government to file their responses. The bench, however, declined to stay the allotment of the land to the Samakhya, as requested by the petitioner.
The petitioner’s counsel P. Shashi Kiran informed the bench that the HC had earlier stayed allotment of land in a similar matter. In 2021, the State government issued G.O. Ms No. 47 allotting five acres to two caste associations — All India Velama Association and Kamma Vaari Seva Sanghala Samakhya. A retired professor of Kakatiya University A. Vinayak Reddy filed a PIL petition challenging the allotment. After hearing the plea, the HC passed an interim order for staying allotment of the land.
Mr. Shashi Kiran appealed to the bench on Thursday to stay the allotment of land to the Samakhya as well since the issue raised in the two PIL petitions was the same. In the two instances, the land was located at Khanamet village of Serilingampally mandal of Rangareddy district.
He said the land was allotted to the association at a throwaway price. In the earlier allotment of land, construction had already commenced. “Therefore, without hearing the other side, we are not inclined to grant an ad interim order. Even otherwise, it is trite law that an interim order passed by a coordinate Bench is not a binding precedent,” the bench said in its interim order.
