HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Sardar Shanta Bai and two others seeking mutation of revenue records in their favour for 7 acres and 28 guntas of land in Survey No 16/1 of Ammuguda village in Medchal-Malkajgiri district. The court also imposed costs of `50,000 on the petitioners for pursuing what it termed an untenable claim.
Justice EV Venugopal upheld the tahsildar’s endorsement dated November 12, 2020, ruling that the petitioners had no legal basis to seek mutation as the land had already been transferred through registered General Power of Attorney (GPA) holders and developed into an approved residential layout.
The petitioners argued that the land originally belonged to late R Sardar Patel, who had purchased it through an unregistered sale deed in 1985 that was later regularised.
They said they had applied for mutation through MeeSeva in 2016. They also alleged that the authorities failed to provide copies of the approved layout despite repeated requests under the Right to Information Act, claiming this violated their rights under Articles 14, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution.
The state, however, submitted that the petitioner and others had executed a registered GPA in 1985, followed by another one in 1993, pursuant to which the land was developed into a layout.
It was explained that 6 acres and 18 guntas had been sold as residential plots, while the remaining 1 acre and 10 guntas was reserved as open space and is presently maintained by the GHMC as a football playground under an approved layout released by the erstwhile Kapra municipality in 2002.
Accepting the state’s stand, the court held that the petitioners could not reassert ownership over land already conveyed through their own GPA holders. Observing that repeated representations and litigation amounted to an abuse of process and wasted valuable judicial time, the court dismissed the writ petition and directed the petitioners to deposit Rs 50,000 with the Telangana High Court Advocates’ Welfare Association within two months.