TS to Probe BRS-era 306-acre Forest Grab

Hyderabad: The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) is learnt to have ordered an inquiry into the encroachment of forest land worth hundreds of crores during the BRS regime. Sources said that the state government had found that under the guise of Haritha Haram, to increase green cover, the BRS regime had permitted realtors to encroach upon forests.

A few BRS leaders and officials in Bhupalapally district have colluded to occupy 106 acres of forest land in Kompelli village of Bhupalapally district, sources added, mentioning one instance.

The encroachment in this case had come to light through a recent Supreme Court, they said.

The BRS government had taken steps to hand over forest land worth around Rs.380 crore to private individuals, over the objections of the forest department.

The then Bhupalpally district collector allegedly joined hands with the encroachers and filed a false affidavit in the Supreme Court to benefit the encroachers. The issue became a subject of heated debate in IAS circles.

The Supreme Court subsequently directed that an investigation be conducted to identify those responsible for making false reports to hand over the valuable forest land to private individuals. The decision to probe the affair comes against this backdrop, sources explained.

Explaining how the development came about, sources said a private person had approached the court 20 years ago claiming ownership of 106 acres of land in the reserve forest under Kompalle village of Bhupalpally district. The District Court of undivided Warangal ruled in favour of the forest department in 1994. Later, the private person challenged the order in the High Court which upheld it.

A review petition was filed in the High Court during the BRS regime in 2021. Accordingly, it was ruled that the land belonged to a private person. As the forest department did not act, the person filed a contempt of court petition.

The forest department then filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict. In contrast, the district collector filed a rejoinder affidavit in the Supreme Court without the permission of the government. This affidavit was in favour of the judgment given by the High Court that the land belonged to the private person.

Objecting to two government departments submitting different affidavits without reconciliation, the Supreme Court sought an explanation from the Chief Secretary.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy took up the issue on coming to learn of it after assuming charge. Officials have been asked to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court immediately and fight the legal battle.

With the intervention of Revanth Reddy, the collector's affidavit was withdrawn. The Chief Secretary filed an affidavit on February 8 that the encroached land was a reserve forest. The Supreme Court gave its judgment earlier this week. It was clarified that this land belonged to the forest department.

The Supreme Court directed the state government to take action against the officials who filed affidavits in favour of private individuals. Condemning the actions of the previous government, the Supreme Court imposed a fine of Rs.5 lakh on the encroacher and the government.

The Supreme Court has said that there was no objection to investigating the role of officials who joined hands with the encroachers and to recover the fine from them.

It is being alleged that the then district collector and revenue officials joined hands with the encroachers to prepare false reports under the pressure of a former BRS MLA. It was reported that two DFOs were also transferred due to political interference at that time to prepare reports according to their wish.