Temple land grab case: Telangana HC denies relief

HYDERABAD: Telangana High Court on Tuesday refused to pass any interim orders in petitions filed by a group of people from Saidabad, Hyderabad, challenging the order passed by the Endowment Tribunal declaring them as encroachers of a temple land.

A bench of Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao, which heard the matters, directed the endowments department to file their counters in four weeks and adjourned the matter for further hearing.


The petitioners, comprising eleven families, allegedly encroached 1.20 acres of land belonging to Sri Bansuri Krishna Mandir at Karmanghat, located in a prime location, and have been residing there for the past three decades. The temple is spread in a total of 2.35 acres of land. The petitioners have also constructed multi storeyed buildings obtaining requisite permissions from the authorities.

Though the petitioners claimed to have purchased the lands through registered sale deeds and had been in possession of the land for a long time, the tribunal examined the evidence and in October 2025 held that the petitioners had encroached into the temple land and ordered for their eviction.

Challenging the tribunal order, the petitioners approached the high court seeking to set aside the tribunal’s eviction orders and pass orders in their favour restoring their ownership rights on the land.

Endowments department counsel Bhukya Mangilal Naik and govt Pleader Herur Rajesh Kumar and Standing Counsel Ch. Satish Kumar placed documentary evidence before the bench, contending that the land belonged to the temple and the tribunal had rightly ruled in favour of the temple, protecting the encroached temple land.