SC allows allotment of house sites to non-locals in R-5 Zone

Vijayawada: In a major relief to the AP government vis-à-vis its efforts to allot house sites to non-locals in R-5 zone in Amaravati, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said the state has the right to allocate house sites.

The Supreme Court suitably altered the Andhra Pradesh High Court order. The SC order, however, is subject to the final verdict on a batch of petitions pertaining to the issue.

A division bench of Justice KM Joseph and Aravind Kumar heard a batch of petitions challenging state government’s move to allot house sites to the poor in the capital region Amaravati by setting up R-5 zone and observed that the state government was having the right to do so.

AP government's senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi argued that the state government was having this right under section 53.1 (D) of AP CRDA Act. He submitted that out of the 34,000 acres pooled, only 900 acres were allotted, in which only 10 farmers availed the opportunity.

AP CRDA’s counsel Niranjan Reddy argued that as per norms, five per cent of land acquired was to be given away to the people belonging to the economically weaker sections. He maintained that the state government was acquiring land for the benefit of the people.

The apex court observed, “This court does not want to interfere with the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to allot house sites in R-5 zone, originally intended to develop Electronic City, to the economically weaker sections. However, (a decision on) the issue of land pattas to the targeted beneficiaries is subject to the final outcome of writ petitions in the case.”

Notably, the state government had issued a gazette notification to allocate 1,134 acres of land to the people from NTR and Guntur districts at R-5 zone.