State govt sets up task force to fast-track temple land legal cases

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is getting ready to intensify the legal fight over temple lands as the department has decided to form a Task Force to pursue court cases belonging to temple lands by having timely response to the court notices and orders.

This move comes at a time when thousands of cases related to the temple lands are pending in courts and in some of the cases the officials were caught unaware of the interim orders and also the contempt petitions.

Sources said that the government was busy brainstorming what type of mechanism should be there with the legal issues. Sources said recently a meeting of the government pleaders was held in which the Endowments Minister Konda Surekha sought complete details from the Principal Secretary Shailaja Ramaiyar, Commissioner Krishna Prasad and Krishnaveni, the government pleader BM Nayak, AGP Shailaja and Vikram and others.

The department officials have been reviewing the progress of the cases related to the alienation of Endowments lands. The officials believed that the role of the legal team was very crucial in protecting lands in the name of the deities. A senior official said that from 2002 to 2025, as many as 1,500 cases were pending in the courts. The Endowments Department has received a report that 543 court cases were disposed of during this period.

The department has focused on how to progress and process the cases from the time the writ is filed to the completion of the case in cases related to the temple lands.

The officials opined that there was a need to argue strongly in cases related to trustees. The officials said if necessary they would approach the department of Archaeology to get information related to the temple and its properties and present that information as evidence in the court.

The official said that the department was planning to appoint an Expert Committee for this purpose. The officials feel that it would be good if people, who believe in God, are involved in this work.

The department officials were not getting information relating to the cases and also about the interim orders unless the court summons the officials. In some cases the officials were unaware even in the contempt cases. To overcome this problem, the department is trying to set up a mechanism to deal with such cases at any given point of time.

The officials feel that if there is a mechanism wherein a separate team and system is in place, they can alert the higher officials at the right time. For this, the department is planning to have a Special Task Force with the permission of the government to protect the lands. The officials wanted this to be on the lines of the Civil Supplies Department and ensure counters are filed in the courts without any delay.