Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Friday dismissed the interim applications filed by some IAS and IPS officers seeking a direction to vacate the stay order passed by the HC over Bhoodan lands in Nagaram village of Maheshwaram mandal of Rangareddy district.
In April of this year, a single judge of the HC instructed the Revenue and the Registration authorities not to change, alter, or alienate the lands in survey numbers 181, 182, 194 and 195 of the village in any manner until further orders. This direction was passed in a writ petition, in which it was alleged that some large-scale fraudulent transactions of the lands in the said survey numbers had taken place.
The petitioner Birla Mallesh sought a direction from the HC to declare inaction of the different officials of the Revenue, the Stamps and Registration departments to take action on his petitions over the “illegal land transactions” as arbitrary. He contended that the said lands actually belonged to the Bhoodan Yajna Board and were purchased by private persons, including some top IAS and IPS officers. These transactions required an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate authorities, the petitioner said.
The judge passed an interim order instructing the Registration department to include the lands in the list of prohibited properties since the allegations were serious in nature. Challenging this interim direction, some IAS and IPS officers filed an appeal. But the then division bench declined to stay the order and directed the appellants to approach the single judge for vacation of the stay order.
Eventually, the matter was transferred to the bench of Justice K. Lakshman. Pronouncing verdict in the writ petition, the judge dismissed the four interim applications seeking to vacate the stay order.
The judge dismissed a writ petition filed by A. Ramulu seeking constitution of a Commission of Enquiry against three Rangareddy district Revenue officials and three private persons to probe illegal mutation of lands in survey numbers 194 and 195 of Nagaram. Another writ petition filed by Birla Mallesh seeking a direction to authorities to provide copies of the mutation of lands in Nagaram village was also dismissed.
However, the judge granted liberty to the petitioner to submit an appropriate application to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration and other Revenue authorities with a specific request to furnish certified copies of the documents. If the authorities failed to consider his request, the petitioner can file a fresh writ petition or take steps in accordance with the law, the judge said in his direction.
Published – October 17, 2025 11:18 pm IST
