Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy of Telangana High Court on Friday passed an order to maintain status quo over the 50 acres of land under survey numbers of 181 and 182 in Nagaram village of Maheswaram mandal in Ranga Reddy district.
Original owners of the land had donated this land decades ago to Bhoodan Yagna Board. However, some persons claiming to be legal heirs of the land donors, sold away some parts of this land. A few days ago, the competent authority of Bhoodan Yagna Board issued a notification making it clear that the whole land belonged to the Board and none can claim rights over it.
One Sridhar Reddy of EIPL Constructions approached the HC questioning decision of the Board over the land and order of the authorities bringing this land under the prohibited list of land parcels.
As per the provisions of the Bhoodan Act, rights over the donated land would vest with the gram sabha. The land can be cultivated by the gram sabha or it can assign the land to some persons of the village for farming. The land assigned thus cannot be sold or transferred to others.
However, legal heirs of the assignees can inherit it. The petitioner challenged decision of the competent authority over resuming the land, stating that already the officials concerned had permitted several transactions on the same land. Meanwhile, the officials had put the land under the list of prohibited land parcels, the petitioner contended.
Observing that the intricacies of the issue need to be examined, the Judge adjourned the matter to March 27 for next hearing. He directed the registry to tag another petition pertaining over the rivalry among the legal heirs with the present petition.
Published – March 15, 2025 12:47 am IST
