HYDERABAD: Finding fault with the proceedings of the Siddipet district collector with regard to revision of market value of the lands in various villages of the district, the Hyderabad High Court has recently declared the method adopted by the district level special committee as well as the collector for revising and updating the lands market value in Vemulaghat village of the district as illegal. The impugned proceedings were intended for the lands coming under acquisition for purpose of various reservoirs which included Mallanna Sagar and canals under Kaleshwaram irrigation project in various villages of the newly formed Siddipet district.
Justice M S Ramachandra Rao was granting the interim suspension of the proceedings issued by the district collector in a petition filed by S Narsimha Reddy and several farmers of Vemulaghat and other villages who contended that the district collector had unilaterally revised the market values of the lands without following the due process prescribed under the rules.
The petitioners’ pointed out that the value was fixed at ` 80,000 per acre whereas the government had purchased the land of one acre for `6 lakh. The New Land Acquisition Act mandates that before issuing notification for acquiring lands the market values have to be revised. The authorities have violated the Telangana Revision of Market Value Guidelines and Rules 1998 in revising the market values of the lands in the district, they alleged.