HC suspends Kurnool Collector’s order to cancel allotment of 15.44 acres to journos

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court suspended the Kurnool district collector’s order to cancel the allotment of 15.44 acres land to journalists in Kurnool district.

A single judge bench headed by Justice D. Ramesh heard the petition filed by Y.V. Krishna Reddy here on Tuesday.

Petitioner’s counsel Yalamanjula Balaji argued that though the journalists purchased the land at government fixed price of Rs 61 lakh, the district administration did not give approval for the layout for some reasons.

After hearing both the parties, the court issued the direction to suspend the Kurnool district collector’s order of cancelling allotment of land to the journalists.

The journalists who formed Kurnool District Journalists Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Building Society Limited, Kurnool, got allotment of 15.44 acres land in Survey No 478 at Dinnedevarapadu village, Kurnool rural mandal in Kurnool district in 2009. Subsequently, the then district collector issued an order to alienate the land to the journalists in 2009. The journalists paid Rs 61,71,000 to the government and made layout and developed 218 residential plots and allotted to the members of the society who purchased the land through registered sale deeds from the Society.

The district collector issued an order cancelling the allotment of land to the journalists on 18-08-2022 for the reason as non-utilisation of the allotted land.