High-level panel to probe illegal sale of Bhoodan land

Hyderabad: The Telangana government, through its memo dated March 17, on Wednesday informed the HC division bench, comprising Acting CJ Sujoy Paul and Justice Yara Renuka, that it has constituted a high-level committee comprising three senior IAS officers--Navin Mittal, Raghunandan Rao and Shashanka--to go into the irregularities committed in illegal and fraudulent sale of 103 acres of the Bhoodan Yagna Board in survey numbers 181 and 182 of Nagaram, Ranga Reddy district, to a private construction company.

The bench was adjudicating the writ appeal filed by Mohammed Farooz Ali Khan and five others, the legal heirs of original owner who donated the land to the Bhoodan Board. The petitioners challenged the single judge order in WP 37146 of 2022.

The government, through its letter 32618/Land Admin (1)/2024 dated March 17, further informed the court that the committee will go through the entire records, files and other documents pertaining to 103 acres, the procedure followed in selling the land to private company and file a report within three weeks from March 17 to the bench. The land was sold to M/s. EIPL Constructions, represented by Kondapally Sridhar Reddy and Puttaramannagari Praveen.

When the sale took place, the then Ranga Reddy Collector was D Amoy Kumar. On the other hand, the Enforcement Directorate, which has taken up an investigation into the land sale has summoned him, the then Tahsildar RP Jyoti and the then RDO Venkat Chary, along with other private persons connected with the issue to its office to question them how the land was transferred and sold to the company; how the sale was executed by executing fraudulent documents and will also go into the illegal transactions which took place.

The Bhoodan Board has also commenced an independent inquiry into the illegal and fraudulent sale of 103 acres to a private company. It took the power from Section 24 of the board U/s. 24 of the Act issued eviction notice to the company; the competent authority of the board directed the District Collector to cancel the patta bassbook pertaining to the land. Accordingly, the passbook issued to the company was cancelled; name of the board pertaining to the land has been incorporated in the Dharani Portal.

Hearing in the case was adjourned to April 24.