Hyderabad

The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the government to inform by November 24 the specific date by which the local body elections will be conducted across the State.

A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin issued the direction while hearing a writ filed by advocate Renka Surender from Mancherial district, challenging the State Election Commission’s decision to keep the local body election notification in abeyance.

The bench emphasised that, under Article 243(3), elections to local bodies must be held within six months of expiry of their term. However, the term of the current panchayats expired in January 2024; despite the lapse of more than 18 months, fresh elections have not yet been conducted.

During the hearing, the CJ observed that while the government may have to consider several administrative factors, “that does not obviate the timeline which the government and the SEC are required to follow-not more than six months.”

The bench referred to an earlier order staying GO 9, which allocated 42% BC reservation, exceeding the 50% cap mandated by the Supreme Court. The HC had directed the government to restrict reservations within the prescribed limit, leading to the election notification, dated September 29, being kept in abeyance.

It may be recalled that Justice T Madhavi Devi, while adjudicating a batch of writs, had directed the government and the SEC to conduct and declare the results of panchayat elections by September 30. However, the directions have not yet been implemented.

The bench has now made it clear that the government must take a final decision and communicate the schedule for conducting the elections by November 24.

The case was adjourned to November 24 for further hearing.

Court adjourns PILs challenging Kokapet land allotment to BRS

The HC on Monday adjourned the hearing on two PILs against allotment of 11 acres of prime government land in Kokapet to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi party for construction of its office.

The division bench directed the government to file its counter within three weeks and posted the case to the second week of December 2025.

The PILs, filed by the Forum for Good Governance through its secretary M Padmanabha Reddy and by advocate A Venkatarami Reddy, challenge the decision of the BRS government to allot the disputed land. The petitioners allege the land, valued at over Rs. 1,100 crore, was allotted to the party at a “throwaway price” of just Rs. 3.41 crore.

Padmanabha Reddy’s PIL seeks a stay on the allotment, arguing that the transaction constituted abuse of power and misuse of public assets. The petition filed by Venkatarami Reddy, requests the court to direct the Anti-Corruption Bureau to register a case against the BRS general secretary for allegedly acquiring highly valuable government land under false pretentions.

According to the petitions, the BRS general secretary had originally requested allotment of land spread across survey no 239 and 240 in Kokapet for establishing an institute of excellence and human resource development. However, they allege that the real intent was to use the land for constructing a party office.

The petitioners noted that the prevailing market value of land in Kokapet was around Rs. 50 crore per acre at the time, yet the entire 11-acre parcel was alienated to the party for just Rs. 3.41 crore. They contend that the then BRS government misused its authority to acquire valuable lands across multiple districts for its party offices, despite already possessing a large office on a two-acre plot at Banjara Hills.

In May 2023, the then CM had approved the proposal and even participated in the bhoomi pooja for the new party office. Following complaints, the HC in 2024 had issued notices to several officials, including the Chief Secretary, Commissioner of HMDA, Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, Ranga Reddy collector and the BRS general secretary.

For further hearing the case was adjourned to second week of December.