HYDERABAD: The Daspalla land scam has taken an interesting turn with Visakhapatnam collector A. Mallikarjuna saying the government has not taken any decision so far on removing the lands from the prohibitory list.
The government invokes Section 22A of the Indian Registration Act 1908 to prevent transactions in lands, if the title of which is either in dispute or claimed by the state.
Even as these lands are still in prohibitory list, an infra company having financial links with another company owned by YSRC Rajya Sabha member V. Vijayasai Reddy’s kin, entered into a development agreement with several private parties, who also have been claiming ownership of the land.
“It is a fit case of insider trading. Though the government did not take a decision yet, an infra company knew of the government decision apparently because of its proximity to Vijayasai Reddy. This company entered into a development agreement with the land owners and even presented the document to the registration authorities by paying the requisite fee.”
"The fee running into crores of rupees was arranged by Avyaan Realtors owned by Sai Reddy’s kin,” said P. Murthy Yadav, Jana Sena corporator spearheading a campaign against dubious land deals of the ruling party leaders in Visakhapatnam.
Maintaining that several issues were involved in the Daspalla lands issue including the Urban Land Ceiling angle, the collector said his predecessors had made certain recommendations to the government based on which it issued the guidelines.
“I need to discuss matters with the officials. The lands are still in the prohibitory list,” he said.
The Opposition parties see a modus operandi in the concluding of development agreements with the claimants. “The model is crystal-clear. The company first negotiates the deal and makes it binding for the other party by swiftly concluding the agreement and presenting it before the sub-registrar. Then the revenue authorities will remove the lands from 22A. The owners cannot go back once the job is done as the sub-registrar will complete the registration and release the document,” alleged Murthy Yadav.
Vijayasai Reddy also told the media on Tuesday that the development agreement is yet to be released by the registration department.
