Supreme Court cancels land allocations to cooperative housing societies in GHMC limits

The judgement was delivered in connection with an appeal filed by Keshav Rao Jadhav challenging government orders issued in 2005 and 2008 that allotted land at subsidised rates to various groups including MPs, MLAs, All India Services officers, judges and journalists by treating them as a separate class.

Hyderabad: In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court on Monday canceled the allocation of land to cooperative housing societies of various sections, including MPs, MLAs, All India Services officers, judges and journalists, within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna delivered the ruling, citing violations of the Constitution’s principle of equality under Article 14.

The judgement was delivered in connection with an appeal filed by Keshav Rao Jadhav challenging government orders issued in 2005 and 2008 that allotted land at subsidised rates to various groups including MPs, MLAs, All India Services officers, judges and journalists by treating them as a separate class. The Supreme Court quashed these orders, ruling that such classifications were arbitrary and discriminatory. The bench also upheld a previous decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court that had invalidated the allocations in cases filed in 2008.

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Further, the Apex Court stated that the interim directions passed by it in some of these cases would now stand merged with the final direction where all parties involved would be accordingly bound by the same. While quashing the petitions filed by the defendants, the Court declared the orders issuing allotment of the land were “bad in law” and violating Article 14 of the Constitution.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court directed the State government of Telangana to refund the amounts paid by the cooperative societies and their members, including stamp duty and registration fees, along with interest based on Reserve Bank of India rates. Development charges and expenses, as certified by income tax returns, were also to be refunded. The lease deeds executed by the State in favour of these societies were declared void.

The Court clarified that it was now up to the Telangana government to decide how to deal with the reclaimed land, provided its actions comply with the law, keeping in mind the observations and findings outlined in the judgment.

This decision concludes a long legal battle over the allocation of land in Hyderabad. Pending applications and contempt petitions linked to the case have also been disposed of.