HC vacates stay on Ameerpet land scam case

HYDERABAD: Vacating the stay it had imposed earlier on ACB probe into the Rs 200-crore alleged land scam involving nine acres of prime land at Ameerpet, the AP High Court on Monday directed the ACB authorities to complete the probe and submit a report to the ACB court.
Former chief minister K Rosaiah, a TDP functionary G N Naidu and 13 others were charged with connivance and causing loss to the state in the case filed by advocate K Mohan Lal.
The ACB has been restrained from making any arrests till it submits its report to the court.
The issue concerns denotifying the land in question from the purview of land acquisition proceedings. The land was acquired by the state long ago from certain land owners for constructing commercial complexes and other urban development projects in public interest. According to the petitioner, the land in question was bought by G N Naidu and a few others from the land owners in 1997 after the land acquisition notification was issued.
In July 2010, following a representation from G N Naidu, the state government withdrew the land acquisition notification and handed over the land to the private parties in an unlawful manner, the petitioner said. Under the Land Acquisition Act, the state has no power to return the land once acquired under the Act, he said.