HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday directed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who also holds the post of Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, to pay Rs 25,000 to an exserviceman for not handing over possession of the land that was allotted to the latter in 2010 itself. The court directed Somesh Kumar to pay the amount, as costs, to P Laxminarayana Reddy within a period of two weeks and also hand over possession of four acres of land in Yenkepally village of Vikarabad district to Reddy, failing which, the Chief Secretary has to appear before the court, duly furnishing the reasons for not implementing its orders.
A division bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Hima Kohli was adjudicating a contempt case filed by the ex-serviceman, aggrieved by the inaction of the Revenue Officials who had not handed over possession of the land allocated to him under the ex-servicemen quota in 2010 itself, till today. Distressed by the undue delay, Reddy knocked the doors of the High Court by way of filing the contempt case.
Though Reddy was granted a pattadar passbook and the title deed in 2010 itself, possession of the land was denied to him on the ground that he did not take possession of the land and cultivate it within three years from the date of allocation. The State, instead of implementing the orders of the High Court passed in 2017, preferred to appeal against the order in 2020, which was closed by the bench.