Bhoodan lands: Senior IPS officers, government employees approach Telangana High Court

Among the appellants are Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, Soumya Mishra, Swati Lakra, Ravigupta, Tarun Joshi, Renu Goel, BK Rahul Hegde, Rahul Busireddy, Veerannagari Gautham Reddy, Rekha Sharaf, and others

Hyderabad: Several senior IPS officers, their family members, government employees and private individuals have approached the Telangana High Court, challenging an order passed by a Single Judge that directed certain lands in Nagaram village, Maheshwaram Mandal to be classified as prohibited properties on the ground that they are Bhoodan lands.

The batch of writ appeals, filed on Tuesday, is listed before a Division Bench and is expected to be heard on Wednesday. Among the appellants are Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, Soumya Mishra, Swati Lakra, Ravigupta, Tarun Joshi, Renu Goel, B.K. Rahul Hegde, Rahul Busireddy, Veerannagari Gautham Reddy, Rekha Sharaf, and others.

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The appellants are aggrieved by the interim order dated April 24 issued by Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, directing that 26 acres of land in Survey Nos. 180, 182, 194, 195, etc., of Nagaram village in Rangareddy district be treated as government land and placed in the prohibited list, restraining all forms of transactions over the said lands.

The impugned order was passed in a writ petition filed by Birla Mallesh, a resident of Ameerpet village, who alleged large-scale irregularities by senior IAS and IPS officers in collusion with revenue and registration officials, including tampering with records and executing sale deeds on Bhoodan lands.

In their appeals, the petitioners contended that the Single Judge had exceeded the scope of the original prayer, which only sought directions to take appropriate action on the alleged irregularities. They submitted that the order to include the lands in the prohibited list was passed without notice or an opportunity to respond, which they argue is contrary to natural justice.

The appellants asserted that the lands in question are not Bhoodan lands, and were lawfully acquired through registered sale deeds. It was also argued that the petitioner himself had acknowledged their lawful possession and did not seek any relief to include their lands in the prohibited list.

The appeals state that the interim order causes grave prejudice to bonafide landowners and amounts to pre-judging the issue without a proper adjudication or inquiry.

The appellants have urged the Division Bench to set aside the interim directions passed by the Single Judge and to allow them to place their version on record before any further orders are passed. The matter is expected to be taken up for hearing on Wednesday.