HYDERABAD: Taking a serious view of the allegations of fraudulent gazette notification for extension of the preliminary notification for land acquisition for works related to the Mallannasagar reservoir, the Telangana High Court on Friday directed revenue officials to produce the entire record of the gazette notification for acquisition of 102 acres in Survey No. 326 & 331 in Mutrajpally of Gajwel mandal.
Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar was dealing with an appeal filed by Balaji Spinners through their counsel Gouraram Rajashekar Reddy, praying for setting aside the preliminary notification issued in 2021, to acquire 102 acres for the construction of a relief and rehabilitation colony for project-displaced families of eight villages.
It was brought to the notice of the court that the preliminary notification had incorporated the names of third parties, who have no semblance of title, whatsoever instead of the actual land owners.
Senior counsel B. Rachana Reddy submitted that the land acquisition officers entered into consent agreements under Section 30 A with third parties incorporated in the preliminary notification and even paid compensation before the expiry of the statutory 60-day period, without considering the objections of the actual land owners.
Government counsel submitted that the land belonged to the government, to which the court asked why and how the preliminary notification for acquisition was issued in the first place.
