Telangana HC hears plea to register FIR against Naveen Mittal in Bhoodan land case

The Telangana High Court heard a criminal revision petition seeking FIR registration against IAS officer Naveen Mittal over alleged illegal Bhoodan land transfers in Maheshwaram. The petitioner claims land records were tampered with and passbooks issued illegally

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: Justice K Sujana of the Telangana High Court on Monday heard a criminal revision petition seeking directions to the Maheshwaram Police to register an FIR against senior IAS officer Naveen Mittal, the then Chairman of the Telangana Bhoodan Yagna Board and Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, in connection with alleged illegal alienation of Bhoodan lands in Nagaram village, Maheshwaram mandal, Rangareddy district.

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The petition was filed by Dastagir Sharif, who had earlier lodged a complaint with the Maheshwaram Police alleging that Bhoodan lands in Survey Nos. 181, 182, 194, and 195 were illegally transferred by tampering with land records. As the police failed to register an FIR, the petitioner filed a private complaint before the Rangareddy Court, which was later dismissed.

Challenging that dismissal, the petitioner approached the High Court through the present criminal revision petition. During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner contended that the lower court had erroneously dismissed the private complaint and that the illegal transfer of Bhoodan lands had occurred during Naveen Mittal’s tenure as the Bhoodan Yagna Board Chairman.

It was submitted that the failure of the police to act on the complaint warranted judicial intervention to ensure registration of a criminal case.

It may be recalled that the High Court had earlier issued interim orders restraining any construction activity on the disputed lands in Nagaram village. The controversy gained prominence after it came to light that passbooks were illegally issued for Bhoodan and government lands, which were subsequently sold to real estate companies and several senior officials, including IAS and IPS officers.

The petitioner has urged the Court to direct registration of a criminal case against Naveen Mittal for his alleged role in the illegal alienation of Bhoodan lands. Due to the unavailability of the Senior Counsel representing the petitioner, the matter was adjourned to Tuesday for detailed arguments.