HC stays land allotment to Kamma, Velama bodies

Hyderabad: The state government suffered a setback with the Telangana high court on Wednesday staying allotment of five acres of prime land in Hyderabad to Kamma and Velama associations.
The market price of the land — allotted in Khanamet near Hi-Tec City two years ago — is around Rs 100 crore per acre. The state government has already handed over advance possession of the land to the two caste associations without fixing or collecting money from them.
A bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji said the allotment of five acres each to two caste organisations was prima facie contradictory to the very spirit of scores of Supreme Court judgments. The government had issued a GO (No. 47 dated June 30, 2021), allotting the land to both caste associations.
The bench passed this interim order, staying the operation of the GO until further orders, after hearing a PIL filed by A Vinayak Reddy, a former professor of Kakatiya University.Taking a serious view of the allotment, the CJ said: "One can understand if the land allotment was made in favour of marginalised communities like SCs, STs or BCs. But, giving the land to caste associations which work exclusively for their own castes is absurd. This is land grabbing of a different type."The bench said: "Handing over state land without any consideration — that too to those who work exclusively for their own castes is a question we will examine." It also reminded that the court had recently struck down allotment of 15 acres of prime land in Banjara Hills to Sai Sindhu Foundation, a charity organisation founded by Hetero Group chairman, at a very cheap price on a 60-year lease.
The bench, while allowing the Kamma association — which was set ex parte in the last hearing because it did not participate in the hearings in the last two years — to be a part of the current litigation, however, said that no constructions should be made by the two associations in the land allotted to them until further orders.
The CJ also fumed at the counsel for Kamma association for taking two years to respond to the court notice and now seeking time to file a counter. Counsel for the Velama association also sought time, saying they filed their counter now. Addressing both the counsels, the CJ said it appeared as if they entered the court only after observing its mood in the previous hearing.
When the counsels of the two associations were resisting the interim order, the CJ asked them to challenge the high court order in the apex court.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel S Satyam Reddy said Kamma and Velama are riche castes. "They are capable of purchasing land at market value and they do not deserve any dole from the state government. But, the government accorded them top priority and issued a GO allotting prime land in just three days after they applied seeking land. The speed at which it was done only shows the power these two castes enjoy in the higher echelons of the government," Satyam Reddy said.
The court, it may be recalled, said in its previous hearing that the state government promoting castes looked absurd. "The mandate of the Constitution is to promote a casteless, egalitarian society and the state action runs counter to it. Such doles or promotion are required for those who erase the caste identities by entering into inter-caste marriages and not to those who promote casteism," it said.