HC faults state govt for seeking adjournments in IMG Bharat land case
Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, on Wednesday faulted the state government for seeking adjournments in a 2006 petition filed by Billy Rao’s IMG Academics Bharat Private Ltd on cancellation of land admeasuring acres 400 acres at Gachibowli allotted to it in 2003 by the then government for the development of sports facilities.
The petition has been pending since 2006 and the case was listed recently. On December 11, the High Court made it clear to the government that it will take up the matter on December 27 and the government should submit their contentions.
On Wednesday, however, the government counsel sought an adjournment citing that no Advocate-General was appointed for Telangana and only after such an appointment, the arguments would be submitted on behalf of the state.
The bench recalled that the same contentions were submitted at the previous hearing also
and now it cannot allow such requests. However, on the request of the Assistant Government Pleader, the court adjourned the hearing for one week and made it clear that no further requests for adjournment will not be allowed.
The Telugu Desam government had signed an MoU in August 2003 with IMG Bharat, which claimed to be an Indian subsidiary of Florida-based IMG International, to allocate 850 acres of land apart from entrusting to it the management of all stadiums in Hyderabad except the Lal Bahadur stadium. Out of the total land allotted, about 400 acres was given to the company as an advance possession in Gachibowli. However, in 2006, the then Congress government had issued a special ordinance resuming the 400-acre land sold to the company and annulling all other transactions. Later, the government had ordered a CBI inquiry.
