Explain stand on govt land auction: HC to Telangana govt

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court (HC) on Friday gave four weeks’ time to the state government to explain its stand on a petition filed by actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijayashanti questioning the state’s policy to auction government land.
Upon a request from the state to grant it some more time, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A Rajasheker Reddy posted the case to December 3 asking the state to file its counter by that time.
The former MP in her petition found fault with the state for deciding to sell away certain portions of government land on untenable reasons that they are difficult to be protected from encroachments.
Her counsel in the last hearing questioned how a state could express helplessness in such matters.
He also brought to the notice of the court the decision of the state to create a 1,000-acre land bank in each district for future auctions. “These two contentions do not go together,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijayashanti said the Telangana Land Encroachment Act, 1905, is meant to protect the public properties.
“If the state government feels that this old law is not sufficient to protect government land, then it has got ample legislative power to add new teeth to this law to make it more effective,” Vijayashanti said in her plea.
Instead, the state government chose to monetise the land parcels by selling them away to private parties, she said. The bench adjourned the case to December 3.
Upon a request from the state to grant it some more time, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice A Rajasheker Reddy posted the case to December 3 asking the state to file its counter by that time