VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Tuesday ordered a Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) department inquiry into the infamous lands belonging to Sadavarti Choultry that runs into thousands of crores.
In a Government Order, Special Chief Secretary Manmohan Singh instructed the Commissioner of Endowments to hand over the entire record and evidence pertaining to Sadavarthi lands to the Director General (DG) of the Vigilance and Enforcement department. The probe will be conducted by a senior officer in the Vigilance Department under the guidance of DG KRN Reddy.
Minister for Endowments Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, while replying to a question raised by Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy in the Assembly last month, had promised a detailed inquiry into alleged irregularities in the auction of Sadavarthi lands.
The Sri Sadavarthi Choultry was established in Amaravathi of Guntur district before Independence by the then Amaravathi Zamindar Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Naidu to provide boarding facility for economically weak Brahmin students pursuing Vedic studies. To meet the future needs, the Raja had donated 471.76 acres of land belonging to him in Chennai.
After the TDP came to power in 2014, MLA Kommalapati Sridhar proposed the auctioning of Sadavarthi lands and former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu responded positively and forwarded it to the Endowments department on September 2014. After seven months, government issued orders for the sale of 83.11 acres and the lands were auctioned in March 2016. Ramakrishna Reddy said the Telugu Desam leaders, citing encroachments, proposed to sell the land at a throwaway price of `50 lakh per acre. The MLA also found fault with the auctioning process and sought a probe into selling of 83.11 acres of land at a throwaway price of `27 lakh per acre.
Later, the auction was cancelled by the AP High Court when the Vigilance department called for an inquiry.