HYDERABAD: In major relief to a group of senior IAS and IPS officers, a bench of the Telangana High Court on Friday set aside an interim order by a single judge that had said that lands in Survey Nos. 194 and 195 of Nagaram village, Maheshwaram mandal, were Bhoodan lands.
A bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar suspended the October 17, 2025, order of Justice K Lakshman, and ruled that the material on record established that the lands were patta lands.
In his orders, Justice Lakshman had made serious remarks against senior IAS and IPS officers over the alleged purchase of “Bhoodan lands” in Nagaram village.
Justice Lakshman had noted that “prima facie, there are serious allegations” against revenue officials, the Rangareddy district collector, and senior IAS and IPS officers. He had also refused to vacate an earlier interim order of April 24, 2025, which directed the district collector to place the disputed lands on the prohibitory list and prevent any alteration.
He was hearing a petition by Birla Mallesh, a resident of Maheshwaram, who alleged that senior officers had manipulated records to transfer Bhoodan lands into their names. Mallesh had sought an inquiry by the ED, CBI, DOPT and Telangana Vigilance Commission.
Aggrieved by Justice Lakshman’s orders, a group of officers including Ravi Gupta, IPS, Tarun Joshi, IPS, Renu Goyal, and Dr Gyanmudra, wife of former CS Somesh Kumar (IAS), filed an appeal.
All records say it is patta land, HC told
Appearing for the officers, senior advocate Niranjan Reddy pointed out that reports and counter affidavits filed by the district collector (June 10, 2025), Enforcement Directorate (June 25, 2025), the Bhoodan Yagna Board, and the RDO all confirmed that the lands were patta lands, and not Bhoodan lands.
Niranjan argued that the officers had purchased the plots with legitimate income and that the allegations were baseless.
Accepting these submissions, the bench ruled that the material on record established the lands’ patta status, and accordingly suspended Justice Lakshman’s earlier order.
