The Telangana Housing Board has won a landmark case in the Supreme Court by successfully arguing and convincing the Apex Court that it was the true owner of a 20-acre land in Kukatpally worth about ₹ 700 crore. The case, which was in legal tangles for the last two decades, has finally come to a close with the recent judgement, according to Vice-Chairperson and Housing Commissioner Chitra Ramachandran on Thursday.
In an official press release, the Housing Board announced that in the recent judgment the SC had “clearly and unequivocally” held that the entire land in Survey No.1009 of Kukatpally village belongs to it after its acquisition commencing in the year 1963 and taking possession of the land in 1968. The TS Housing Board was compelled to fight for the public land, acquired by it through the due process of law, which was sought to be taken away by “devious means” and “creative litigation” but its stand stood vindicated. The SC, through its judgment, has put an end to the festering litigation inflicted on the Board by the alleged land owners or their respective representatives for over two decades, the release explained.
The Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy hailed the verdict and congratulated the Housing Board team. Ms. Ramachandran, also the Special Chief Secretary, thanked the legal team including Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha and Advocate T.V. Ratnam for their untiring efforts in assisting the SC to do complete justice in the batch of cases. The opposite side’s legal team was led by former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.
Hoping that the verdict would be of help to other government departments like revenue in similar cases, she appreciated the efforts put in by land acquisition officer K. Venkateshwarlu, law officer P. Aruna Kumari, work inspector B. Venkateshwarlu, Engineers - V.S.N. Murthy and Radhakrishna.
