TS govt told to file response on GOs regularising lands bought from illegal layouts

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court division bench, headed by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda, on Wednesday directed the State government to file its response on two GOs, 59 dated December 14, 2014, and 14 through which it is regularising lands purchased from unapproved layouts.

The GOs permit landowners to approach the government for regularising their lands on payment of a requisite fees.

The division bench was adjudicating a batch of writ petitions and two Public Interest Litigations seeking suspension of the GOs as they are facilitating all such persons who have purchased lands carved out of illegal layouts and later getting them regularised on payment of requisite fee.

The GOs indirectly encouraged land-grabbers and unsocial elements to encroach on lands and later get them regularised contended the petitioners.

Counsel for one of the Public Interest Litigation, Chikkudu Prabhakar, informed the court that the PILs and the writ petitions have been filed in 2015. Since then the State government has not filed its response.

He informed the court that in March 2022, the division bench of the court took serious note on the lackadaisical attitude of the State government in not filing its response to the batch of the writ petitions and PILs and directed the Chief Secretary to appear in person, in the event the State fails to file its response.

In the garb of the GOs, people are not even leaving a small extent of land, 250 square yards, and sought a direction to suspend them. AHearing in the case was adjourned to August 24.

HC imposes Rs 50,000 fine on the petitioner for 'wasting court's time'

The High Court division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda, on Wednesday, imposed Rs 50,000 fine on the petitioner for filing private litigation as public interest litigation and wasting the court's precious time.

The CJ bench hearing a public interest litigation filed by A Dayakar Rao Yadav, police constable, against unauthorised construction at Jawahar Nagar, Yousufguda, by the respondent Nagam Papiah Yadav.

GHMC Standing Counsel Pasham Krishna Reddy informed the court that the petitioner is the son-in-law of the respondent and husband of his third daughter Shanta and suppressed facts in the petition.

The petitioner complained to the concerned GHMC officials against the unauthorised construction by Papiah Yadav. The matter is a dispute between sisters. At the intervention of the family members and well-wishers the matter has been amicably settled between the parties. Dayakar Yadav withdrew the petition, the counsel stated.

The CJ bench, aggrieved over the petitioner filing false public interest litigation, imposed Rs. 50,000 fine, to be credited to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority, Hyderabad, within 30 days. "The message to go out that the purpose of PIL cannot misused and the court's time wasted by filing false PILs".