Telangana HC Directs Status Quo on Land Acquisition in Rangareddy

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has instructed both the State government and landowners to maintain the current status regarding land acquisition in Hakimpet and Lagacharla villages of Rangareddy district. A division bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara, issued the directive while declining to suspend a single-judge order that had halted the government’s notification for acquiring land for an industrial park in Vikarabad district.

The State government had approached the division bench, seeking to overturn the stay imposed by the single judge. However, the bench advised the government to submit an application, along with a counter affidavit, before the single-judge bench to seek the revocation of the stay. It further clarified that the single judge would decide on the matter based on legal considerations.

During the hearing, Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy argued that the stay order could disrupt the government’s land acquisition plans. In response, Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul questioned why the government had not approached the single-judge bench directly for relief. The Advocate General assured the court that the government was prepared to compensate assigned landowners on par with original title holders.

The land acquisition in question stems from a government notification issued on 29 November last year, which proposed acquiring 497 acres in Lagacharla and 351 acres in Hakimpet, both in Dudiyal mandal of Vikarabad district. Some landowners, possessing plots of two to six acres in Hakimpet, challenged the notification in court, leading to the single-judge order staying the acquisition process. The case now awaits further deliberation by the single-judge bench.