HYDERABAD: In a significant development in the Bhoodan land controversy, the Telangana High Court on Thursday dismissed three writ petitions seeking to quash the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over alleged land irregularities in Nagaram village of Maheshwaram mandal.
A division bench comprising Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao declined to interfere with the ED proceedings, thereby permitting the agency to continue its investigation.
The petitions were filed by MA Akthar, Lateef Rahman Sharfan and Abdul Rahman Sharfan, who questioned the validity of the ECIR and sought to stall further action by the ED. After hearing the parties, the court refused relief and dismissed the writ pleas.
The case concerns the alleged unlawful transfer and sale of land in Survey Nos. 181, 182 and 194 of Nagaram village, claimed to be Bhoodan and government land.
Investigating agencies allege that the lands were regularised and alienated using fabricated documents and manipulated land records, allegedly with the involvement of certain revenue officials.
It is further alleged that entries in official records, including those on the Dharani portal, were tampered with to facilitate transactions.
Former revenue officials, including a past Tahsildar, have reportedly been examined in the probe. The ED had earlier conducted searches at premises linked to the accused in Hyderabad.
With the High Court declining to quash the ECIR, the ED investigation will proceed unhindered, marking a key development in the scrutiny of disputed Bhoodan land transactions in the region.