Telangana HC directs petitioners to serve notices in Rs 25,000-cr land scam case linked to Dharani Act. Petition alleges four-decade fraud, involving bogus transactions and concealment of prior land sales.
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HYDERABAD: On Tuesday(12th March), the Telangana High Court issued directives to the petitioners involved in a writ petition concerning an alleged colossal land scam, instructing them to serve personal notices to the respondents, which include official entities. This case has garnered attention following reports by The Wire during the recent assembly elections, shedding light on purported fraudulent activities linked to the Dharani Act, a contentious land records management initiative established by the former Bharat Rashtra Samithi government.
The writ petition unveils a four-decade narrative of alleged deceit and the creation of bogus sale transactions, cumulating in an estimated Rs 25,000-crore scam on the fringes of Hyderabad. The petitioners assert that they acquired plots between 1983 and 1986 from the original landowners (pattedars) via authorized general power of attorney. Despite this, the pattedars allegedly secured ‘patta passbooks’—land title deeds typically issued by the state to landowners—concealing the prior transactions. Subsequently, the original landowners are accused of fabricating nearly 1,000 sham sale deeds, ignoring repeated mandates from various judicial and revenue authorities.
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Further complicating matters, the plot owners’ association lodged a petition with the then Ranga Reddy district revenue court, seeking the annulment of these unlawfully issued pattadar passbooks. Following a thorough investigation and hearing, the joint collector’s court explicitly instructed the revenue officials to revoke the pattadar passbooks, as the land had been subdivided into plots and sold to over 3,000 individuals. However, the directives of the joint collector’s court were reportedly met with negligible compliance from the revenue authorities.
The introduction of the Dharani Act prompted the petitioners to seek the intervention of the high court, requesting the exclusion of specific survey numbers in Vattinagulapally village, Ranga Reddy district, from the Dharani portal to prevent further fraudulent transactions. The high court subsequently barred revenue officials from processing any sale transactions. Despite this, allegations have surfaced that the revenue authorities registered approximately 200 sale deeds between July 2022 and March 2023.
In July 2023, a high court bench led by Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy ordered the Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, and other officials to refrain from taking any measures against the plot owners. Nevertheless, despite the high court’s orders, police personnel from the Ganchibowli Police Station allegedly hindered the plot owners from accessing their properties and are accused of confiscating land survey equipment.
In a unique form of protest, the petitioners submitted their candidacies against KCR in the recent assembly elections, aiming to highlight their grievances to the government. It is reported that KCR instructed his aide Harish Rao to persuade the plot owners to retract their nominations, which they did following assurances from Harish Rao.
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Despite these developments, the situation on the ground remains unchanged, prompting hundreds of plot owners to approach the Director General of Police, Telangana, demanding action against the alleged ‘land mafia’. The Crime Investigation Department has been tasked with investigating the matter and compiling a report. The petitioners have brought this report to the high court’s attention, seeking orders for the police to file criminal charges and appoint a Special Investigating Team for a thorough investigation.
The case is scheduled for a hearing on April 15, with advocates Nallamasu Krishna and Veeraiah Konduri representing the aggrieved petitioners.
