Hyderabad: Telangana high court has dismissed a writ petition filed in an attempt to allegedly ‘encroach’ upon a football ground at Ammuguda near Yapral in the city, claiming it as private property, holding that the petitioners had no legal basis for their claim and had unnecessarily consumed the court’s time.Justice E V Venugopal also imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on the petitioners, directing them to deposit the amount with the Telangana High Court Advocates’ Welfare Association and submit the payment proof before the registrar (Judicial-I).The petitioners, Sardar Shanta Bai and her two sons from Alwal, filed the petition challenging the rejection of a request to mutate revenue records relating to 7.28 acres of land at Ammuguda, in which the football ground constituted 1.1 acres.The petitioners contended that Shanta Bai’s husband R Sardar Patel had purchased the land through an unregistered sale deed in 1985, which was later regularised.They argued that their application for mutation was wrongly rejected and alleged that authorities repeatedly failed to provide copies of the approved layout plan despite applications under the Right to Information Act.According to them, the absence of these records prevented them from proving that the disputed extent of 1.10 acres did not form part of the approved layout. They also relied on a tahsildar’s communication to contend that the revenue authorities had effectively acknowledged their claim.The revenue department opposed the plea, arguing that the land was govt land and that the petitioners produced no documentary proof of ownership or possession. It submitted that the petitioners themselves executed a registered general power of attorney in 1985, following which the land was developed into a residential layout and plots were sold, leaving 1.10 acre as mandatory open space.Govt further claimed that the petitioners had suppressed these facts, sought mutation on the strength of an unregistered sale deed and were attempting to claim a football ground maintained by GHMC.GHMC also informed the court that the land had long been reserved as a playground under the approved layout and was being used by the public.Accepting the govt’s stand, Justice Venugopal observed that the petitioners had already conveyed their rights through the power of attorney and could not repeatedly approach revenue authorities and the high court over the issue.The judge further held that filing multiple applications and the writ petition amounted to an unnecessary waste of valuable judicial time and dismissed the petition.
