Telangana farmers get SC relief

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Telangana state government not to dispossess farmers of their land in Gowliwada of Peddapally district for the construction of the Sundilla barrage, which is a part of the Kaleswaram lift irrigation scheme till the government files a final report.

A two-member vacation bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Navin Sinha was responding to a mention made by senior counsel Subramanya Prasad urging the court to take up the hearing of a special leave petition by affected farmers.

The bench asked the TS government counsel to see to it that the petitioners are not dispossessed of their land. A vacation bench of the Hyderabad High Court had recently refused to stay an interim order of a single judge which had paved the way for acquiring land in Gowliwada.

Aggrieved by the vacation bench decision, Mr G. Venkat Reddy and others of Gowliwada moved the appeal before the Supreme Court. When senior counsel made a mention before the apex court for taking up hearing of the case, TS counsel submitted that the government had taken possession of the land. The bench said the dispossession of farmers had taken place even when the High Court orders had been contested in the appeal and said the appeal would be heard in the first week of June.