Miyapur scam: Supreme Court junks plea seeking stay on trial

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of two from Trinity Infra Ventures Ltd accused in the Miyapur land scam case, who were seeking a stay on the ongoing trial currently in progress before a trial court in Hyderabad.



The Bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan was hearing a plea to quash the FIR registered by Kukatpally police against the petitioners P Pardhasaradhi and PVS Sarma of Trinity Infra.

Their counsel sought a stay on the trial as an interim measure. The court dismissed the interim application. The main case will be heard in the month of May.

Trinity’s counsel told the court that it is a civil dispute. “The state says it is government land. It is our case that we bought it from an Inamdar who has right over the land. What we bought was that right, known as ‘sanad’ right. In fact, a civil dispute is pending in a Hyderabad civil court. If the civil court comes to a conclusion that the Inamdar’s right is final, then we will accordingly get rights over the land. Even if we lose the case there, it still is a civil case and will not constitute a criminal offence,” Trinity’s counsel said.

“There were 1,500 registrations done on this land. All of them did not end up as criminal cases,” he said.

Palwai Venkat Reddy, standing counsel for the state of Telangana at the Supreme Court, told TOI that they brought to the notice of the court about the supplementary charge-sheet filed by them. “Though they (the accused) say it is a civil dispute, the criminal intention behind their attempt to transfer the property should not be lost sight of. They also evaded stamp duty on the transaction, which is a loss to the state exchequer. In fact, this scam came out only after our police arrested some sub-registrars who connived with the accused in the case,” Palwai said.

Telangana also opposed the petitioners’ pleas on the ground that quash petitions filed by the accused directly in the Supreme Court are not maintainable.

“The state cancelled the sale deeds and hence the loss could be averted. But that will not erase the criminal conspiracy with which the accused acted in the case,” the standing counsel Venkat Reddy said.