Government to approach courts

Hyderabad: The Telangana state has decided on setting up State Revenue Tribunal for speedy disposal of land dispute cases, similar to set ups in Gujarat and Maharastra. Thousands of acres belonging to the state government, mainly Bhoodan lands, evacuee property lands, Inam lands, tenancy lands, wakf and endowment lands have been struck in disputes for decades.

With no revenue tribunal in place, the litigants have no choice but to approach the courts, thus adding to the workload. The severe delay in resolution of land dispute cases on account of workload in courts has been further complicating things for both the government and individuals as those resorting to such irregularities are utilising the long delayed process to their advantage.

The Telangana government has been trying to take back thousands of acres of government lands encroached by land sharks in and around Hyderabad. The government had identified over 12,000 acre of government lands under encroachment but could not take back the lands as they were sold and resold several times to various parties by encroachers.

The government is planning to approach courts against these encroachers but is concerned about the delay in courts. This has prompted the Telangana government to set up a revenue tribunal exclusively to deal with land cases. Deputy Chief Minister, Mohd Mahmood Ali, who also holds the revenue portfolio, said there was a long-pending demand even from the employees of the revenue department to set up a tribunal for the speedy disposal of land dispute cases.

“The government is actively considering setting up a tribunal to deal with land cases. We have planned to take up land survey across the state soon to detect encroachment of government lands. We expect thousands of land dispute cases to come up after the survey. We want to approach the revenue tribunal to resolve these disputes,” Mr Ali said.