VIJAYAWADA: The High Court has raised serious objections over the allotment of 30 acres of land belonging to the Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam in Balighattam, under Narsipatnam in Anakapalli district, to the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation without conducting a public auction.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former Narsipatnam MLA Petla Uma Shankar Ganesh, the court questioned the State government on how temple lands could be allocated without following due process.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Guna Ranjan said authorities must allot temple lands only through public auction as per law. The High Court clarified that assigning agricultural land for industrial use does not change its classification to non-agricultural land and questioned using temple land for industrial needs when other land is available.
Senior counsel Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the government allotted the land without auction and that the corporation took possession before approval. The government counsel said the lease offer was Rs 30,000 against the earlier Rs 12,000, but the bench said auction could fetch more. The court directed the petitioner to challenge the GO and adjourned the matter to June 24.