The Telangana HC has issued notice to the state govt for allowing SIRI group to transfer 37 acres of prime land worth 2,000 crore, which was allotted for a public purpose, to a private real estate group. Both SIRI group as well as Vasavi Real Estate group were also issued notice by the HC.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Anil Kumar, while agreeing to take up the PIL filed by social worker Chekka Ashok Kumar, sought replies from Rangareddy collector and commissioner of stamps and registrations department on why they had permitted deletion of survey numbers of the 37 acres in Saroornagar and Bahadurguda from prohibited register and facilitated its transfer to a private real estate group.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel B Mayur Reddy said the state had assigned this land to GS Raju, founder of South India Research Institute (SIRI), for scientific research at a paltry sum of 3,000 per acre. Though the land was assigned in 1966, the name of the company was entered into revenue records in 2001. Later, following notices by pollution control board, the company had stopped its operations but started transferring the land to its group companies which later handed it over to Vasavi Real Estate.
“This was not the purpose for which the land was originally allotted. The company entered into an agreement with the state for industrial activity and research. Now, that public purpose was abandoned. The state instead of resuming the land from the company is actually assisting it to transfer the same to private vested interests,” Mayur Reddy said.