SC red flags Hafeezpet land litigant\'s moves

HYDERABAD:  The Supreme Court has recently red-flagged the efforts of litigants on prime parcels of Hafeezpet land allegedly to hoodwink the judiciary by mentioning matters before different benches though they were arising out of  the same order.

The apex court took a serious view of this practice and sought a clarification from the Secretary General of the SC Registry as to “why different matters arising out of the same order are being listed by the Registry before different benches.”

The bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice B.V. Nagarathna further said that it was difficult to understand as to why, “when the present matter was listed before Justice S. Abdul Nazeer earlier, the same is listed before us specifically when the Bench consisting of Justice Nazeer and Justice V. Ramasubramanian is available.”

Official sources told Deccan Chronicle that the Telangana government and the Wakf Board had challenged a High Court order that had directed the revenue authorities to mutate 50 acres in Survey No. 80 of Hafeezpet to different individuals and companies including Sai Pawan Estates Pvt Ltd, owned by “Goldstone” Prasad’s (Dr P.S. Prasad’s) brother P. Parthasarathy.

The beneficiaries of the order also included Praveen Rao, who was kidnapped by former AP minister Bhooma Akhilapriya some time ago.

The special leave petitions were listed before a bench comprising Justice Nazeer and Justice Ramasubramanian. Meanwhile, another party, S.J. Yeshwanth, filed an SLP against the Goldstone group company claiming ownership of the same land. The SC tagged this case along with other cases that had earlier came up before the Justice Nazeer bench.

“Justice Ramasubramanian had dealt with CS 14 lands of which Hafeezpet is also a part. He made certain critical observations and gave rulings in these cases while he was in High Court here,” a revenue official pointed out.

Significantly, the Goldstone group company was mentioned before the Bench comprising Justice Gavai and justice Nagarathna when other cases were pending with the Bench which included Justice Ramasubramanian. This led to the Justice Gavai-led Bench seeking clarification from the Secretary General.