The Padmalaya Studio, which was caught in a land row, is under the spotlight again what with the district authorities deciding to resume the allotted land for violation of certain conditions.
Hyderabad Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena has urged the government to reopen the case and written to the Chief Commissioner Land Administration (CCLA) to cancel the allotment of land to the studio. “The matter will be placed before the A.P. Land Management Authority and a decision will be taken soon,” Mr. Meena said.
The GHMC and the Fire Services Department have also been asked not to give any permission since excavation activity is going on in the said land.
The studio, owned by veteran actor Krishna, father of heart-throb Mahesh Babu, is embroiled in the controversy for selling away five acres of the allotted nine acres to Zee Telefilms and 13 others.
The government allotted the land in 1982 at a throwaway price at Filmnagar in Shaikpet mandal for construction of a studio. “But the studio owners sold away a part of the land in violation of the original agreement,” Mr. Meena said.
The government issued a show-cause notice to Padmalaya Studio in 2007 for resumption of the five acres but the latter went in appeal and won the case.
The studio owners contend that once the land was allotted it was their right to use it as per their wish.
But the government maintained that the land was allotted for a specific purpose and no part of it could be alienated.
Over the years, the studio has been at the centre of a controversy for misappropriating the government land. The district administration re-examined the issue in 2010 and urged the government to take back the portion of the land which was sold away.
