HYDERABAD: Expressing displeasure with the authorities of AP and Telangana for failure to comply with the court order to file comprehensive reports regarding payment of compensation to the persons whose lands were acquired for various projects, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday cautioned that the chief secretaries of both the states would be summoned if the reports were not filed by the next date of case hearing.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice M Ganga Rao was dealing with a letter written by Mahbubnagar district judge G Venkata Krishnaiah to the Chief Justice stating that scores of executive petitions (EPs) moved by the land owners had been pending before the trial courts for years together as the district collectors were not implementing compensation awards passed by the trial court.
On earlier occasion, the bench warned the state governments that if the situation (delaying the payment) continued like this they would not hesitate to stay the ongoing land acquisition proceeding in both states, and directed them to file reports explaining the number of cases pending for the compensation and the quantum of amount and the time required to pay compensation in pending cases.
When the matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, the counsel for Telangana submitted a report while the counsel for AP sought two more weeks.Not satisfied with the report of Telangana state, the bench pointed out that the report was incomplete. At one stage, the bench warned of restraining the state governments from acquiring lands until entire compensation amount was paid to the farmers and land owners concerned.
The counsel for Telangana submitted that a total of about Rs 500 crore was due to be paid to farmers and land owners who parted with their land to the government for various projects. The government also made budgetary allocation towards payment of compensation and the money was with the district collectors concerned who were at the stage of scrutinizing the pending cases, he added.
PIL on Sadavarti lands closed
Hyderabad: Making it clear that the issue of ownership has to be resolved in Tamil Nadu, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday closed the PIL pertaining to auction of the land belonging to Sri Sadavarti Satram at Amaravati in Guntur district situated in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice M Ganga Rao was closing the PIL filed by Alla Ramakrishna Reddy.