Hyderabad High Court takes letter on land transfer as PIL

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the TS government in a taken up matter seeking CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in transfer of lands in Azamabad Industrial Area of the city.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T. Rajani was dealing with the taken up case based on a letter by C. Kumar, a TRS leader.

In his letter, Mr Kumar submitted that earlier, the government had allotted 136 acres for the Azamabad Industrial Estate at Musheerabad in the city and the land was transferred to several individuals on lease basis to establish industries.

He brought to the notice of the court that a majority of leaseholders have not established their units in the estate, while some who did start units in the estate had either shut them down or relocated due to several reasons. However, the land was still in the possession of the private individuals and most of them have constructed houses on it, he said.

Mr Kumar complained to the court that the leaseholders have been enjoying the lands without paying the lease amounts and officials of the department concerned were now transferring the lands in the name of the leaseholders.

He urged the court to intervene in the matter and order CBI probe. The bench, while taking the letter as a PIL, issued notices to the authorities of the state government, directing them to file counter affidavits.