Hyderabad: Supreme Court has directed Telangana govt to file a detailed affidavit within four weeks on the present status of 155 acres allotted to the AP Secretariat Employees Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society at Jawahar Nagar and Neknampur in Hyderabad.A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan issued the direction on April 7 while hearing a public interest litigation challenging the allotment of prime govt land to the employees’ society at nominal rates. The petitioner contended that the current market value of the land runs into thousands of crores. The bench also asked the state to disclose the present market value of the land and the number of residents occupying it. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that valuable natural resources were allotted arbitrarily without a transparent policy. It was submitted that land estimated at around Rs 10 crore per acre in 2010 was allotted for Rs 3 lakh, and reference was made to recent Supreme Court rulings striking down similar allotments to IAS and IPS officers and high court judges.Counsel for the housing society maintained that the allotment dates back to 2002, with market value recorded in subsequent GOs in 2003 and 2010. It was also stated that the society incurred Rs 3 crore towards development and Rs 9 crore on infrastructure. The state informed the court that the current status of the land was unclear and that a comprehensive survey would be undertaken. The bench issued directions after recording these submissions.
