Telangana HC Sets Aside Amoy Kumar's Order on 52-Acre Land
HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has set aside the orders of the previous BRS government, which had de-notified around 52 acres of land from the prohibited list and declared it as private land in Survey No. 63 of Guttala Begumpet, behind the Marri Chenna Reddy HRD Institute. Amoy Kumar was the collector of Rangareddy district, where the area falls, in 2022, and had issued the orders.
Amoy Kumar was recently grilled by the Enforcement Directorate about his alleged involvement and financial gains out of land dealings as collector of Rangareddy and Medchal districts during the BRS previous government. He was also questioned about the Guttala Begumpet land case.
Despite the status quo orders issued on the entire land of 73 acres and 39 guntas of Survey No. 63 of Guttala Begumpet, Amoy Kumar, on August 8, 2022, issued proceedings denotifying around 52 acres. A communication was addressed to the registration authorities to allow registration over the land.
It was learnt that the land was gifted to a private individual, allegedly a benami of a top realty firm; this was unearthed when the income-tax department raided the realty firm.
Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court set aside the orders of Amoy Kumar, while dealing with a batch of petitions filed by Raunaq Yar Khan, Bukthyar Khan and their family members, who claimed that the land was private and not belonging to the government.
The Khans had claimed that they had inherited the property by virtue of a gift deed dated March 31, 1971, executed by their mother Lateefunnisa Begum, wife of Ahmed Yar Khan, who had in turn inherited the property from her father, the late Nawab Nazeer Nawaz Jung, under a gift deed of October 14, 1969.
The government, claiming the land, issued GO Ms No. 943 dated 20-09-1989 for alienation of 63 acres and seven guntas in favour of the then Registrar, Telugu University. The issue was under dispute since then. In 2018, the private parties approached the court, challenging the erection of boards by revenue officials stating that the land belonged to the government.
In 2018, the High Court issued status quo orders. While the status quo was in place, on August 8, 2022, Amoy Kumar issued the proceedings to remove 52 acres from the prohibited list. When the private parties brought the matter to the notice of the court, Justice Lakshman on October 14, 2022, issued stay orders.
After the final hearing, the judge on Monday pronounced the orders by setting aside the proceedings issued by Amoy Kumar. The order was awaited till late on Tuesday.