HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court has directed the Telangana government to submit the note file (case records) pertaining to the GO issued for construction of an integrated district collectorate complex in Suryapet district on a private land situated at Kudakuda and Bebigudem villages and the correspondence that took place for land acquisition.
The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K Vijaya Lakshmi was passing this order in a PIL filed by Chakilam Rajeshwar Rao from Suryapet challenging the action of the authorities in taking steps to construct a collectorate office on a private land instead of available government land at Suryapet.
The petitioner's counsel told the court that the respondent Sri Sai Developers, belonging to a relative of Suryapet municipal chairman, had purchased lands in the above said two villages and with an intention to increase their land value the revenue officials of the district mooted the proposal for constructing the collectorate office on a private land by acquiring the same. At the behest of respondent G Jagadishwar Reddy, state energy minister, the proposal to construct the integrated collectorate office has been planned on the private land which was far away from the Suryapet, he pointed out and urged the court to grant stay of all further constructions on the subject land.
On the other hand, additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao submitted that the petitioner belongs to the opposition Congress party and was using the court as a platform to settle scores by filing the present PIL case.
After hearing both sides, the bench asked the respondent authorities to tell the reasons for dropping the first two proposals of taking up constructions on government land and going for the third proposal of constructing the integrated collectorate office on a private land. The bench directed the revenue authorities concerned to furnish the note file pertaining to the GO 230 according permission to purchase private lands for the proposed office construction, and posted the matter to April 24 for further hearing.