Telangana High Court stays trial court order on Kapra land dispute

The Telangana High Court stayed a trial court order enforcing a Lok Adalat award on 90.08 acres in Kapra village, granting interim relief to the State, which claims the land is evacuee property and alleges the award was obtained fraudulently

Hyderabad: A Division Bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Justice Mousami Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar on Thursday granted interim relief to the State government by staying the implementation of a trial court order that directed enforcement of a Lok Adalat award relating to about 90.08 acres of land in Kapra village of Medchal–Malkajgiri district.

The Bench was dealing with a petition filed by the State challenging the order of the lower court which had permitted execution of a Lok Adalat award in respect of the subject land. While issuing notices to the private respondents, the Court adjourned the matter to June 15, to be taken up after the summer vacation.

---

According to the State, the land in question, spread across multiple survey numbers in Kapra village, originally belonged to one Mandala Bucham, who passed away in 1942. It was subsequently auctioned through court process and purchased by one Raheem Baksh. Following his demise, his legal heirs migrated to Pakistan after the Police Action, resulting in the land being classified as “evacuee property” under a notification issued in 1952 in the Hyderabad Government Gazette.

The State further submitted that the land was later allotted to certain migrants from Pakistan, though disputes arose over revenue entries, leading to prolonged litigation over the decades. The government contended that the land, measuring over 90 acres and valued at several thousand crores, is public property. It alleged that private individuals managed to have the evacuee notification set aside in proceedings before a Settlement Officer and subsequently secured a Lok Adalat award.

Based on this, they approached the trial court, which ordered execution of the award, prompting the present challenge before the High Court. Government Pleader for Revenue Katram Muralidhar Reddy argued that the Lok Adalat award was obtained by fraud and that the trial court failed to consider binding precedents, including a judgment of the Supreme Court rendered in 2011 declaring the land as government property.

Opposing the plea, counsel for the private respondents contended that the present proceedings constitute yet another round of litigation, stating that the dispute has already undergone multiple rounds and that the writ petition is not maintainable.

Taking note of the rival submissions, the High Court stayed the operation of the trial court’s order enforcing the Lok Adalat award and directed the private parties to file their counters.