Hyderabad: To safeguard the government land meant for educational infrastructure, the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the government not to re-convey or transfer four acres in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district to any private person. The land in survey no 859 and 860 of Mothkur village and mandal, has been at the centre of a long-standing dispute regarding its utilisation.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin issued categorical directions to the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Revenue), Commissioner of Mothkur Municipality and the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district collector to ensure that the land is neither transferred nor re-conveyed in any manner to private individuals claiming ownership.

Emphasising the importance of preserving land earmarked for public welfare, the bench instructed the authorities to use four acres exclusively for constructing hostels, school buildings, playgrounds and other facilities for the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) in Mothkur. These institutions provide free and quality residential education to girls from marginalised communities, including SC, ST, OBC and BPL families.

The court stressed the need to fence and protect the land on all sides to prevent encroachment or unauthorised construction by private individuals or entities.

The ruling came during the hearing of PIL filed by Dr Gurram Lakshminarasimha Reddy, a retired doctor. He sought protection of four acres from being handed over to Aginati Ravi Kumar and Ravoori Nikshmaiah, who claimed they had donated six acres in the survey numbers to the District Sports Authority in 2005 for the construction of a mini-sports stadium.

Despite the donation, no stadium was constructed even after 19 years. Instead, the government utilised two acres for building the KGBV school, leaving the remaining four acres unused, which the private donors sought to reclaim.

Earlier, on 21 November 2024, a single judge had directed the government to re-convey the remaining four acres to the donors on the ground that only part of the donated land (two acres) was utilised by the State. However, disagreeing with this interpretation, the CJ bench on Monday set aside the single judge’s order, while allowing both PIL and the writ appeal filed by the government.

The bench held that the land continues to serve a public purpose and should remain with the State for expanding educational facilities for underprivileged girls. With this ruling, all related petitions were disposed of, clearing the way for the government to proceed with development of KGBV-related infrastructure on the disputed four-acre stretch.