Supreme Court upholds Telangana’s title to about 550 acres in Miyapur, ending a 23-year fight over Survey Nos. 100 and 101

One of Hyderabad’s longest-running land disputes has ended in the Telangana government’s favour. On Thursday, 29 October, the Supreme Court upheld the State’s ownership of about 550 acres in Survey Nos. 100 and 101 of Miyapur, in Serilingampally mandal of Rangareddy district, and dismissed the appeals of the private claimants.

The bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma heard appeals filed by individuals and co-operative societies who said they had acquired the land through the heirs of former jagirdars. They had challenged a judgment of the then Andhra Pradesh High Court, dated 16 April 2003, which declared the land government property. Their appeals then sat in the Supreme Court for 23 years.

What the court found

In its ruling, the bench said the land belongs to the government and private sale documents and disputed revenue records cannot create ownership over it. It found the entries in old revenue records that showed private owners to be bogus. It also upheld the finding, under the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, that the claimants were land grabbers.

The land is valued in the thousands of crores. The government has not yet formally announced how it will be used.