The Telangana High Court has put a temporary halt on a government order that aimed to acquire over 450 acres of land in Vikarabad district for a multipurpose industrial park. Justice J. Sreenivas Rao issued the stay on the notification dated November 29, 2024, which was published in Gazette No. VKB-15/2024. The order involved acquiring 351.10 acres in Hakimpet village and 110.032 acres in Lagacherla village.
The court also sent notices to several officials, including the Principal Secretary (Land Acquisition), Revenue Department, the District Collector, and other local authorities. The Managing Director of the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd was also directed to respond. The judge instructed them to submit detailed replies and scheduled the next hearing for March 21.
The case was brought to court through petitions filed by local farmers. Kummari Shiva Kumar, an agriculturist from Hakimpet, opposed the acquisition of 351.10 acres. Another petition was filed by Pathlavith Gopal Naik and 15 others, residents of Lagacherla, who challenged the acquisition of 110.032 acres in their village.
Senior lawyers B.S. Prasad and Verose Raghunath represented the petitioners, who belong to SC, ST, and BC communities. They argued that the farmers depend on the land for their livelihood, as it is fertile and essential for their survival. When government officials approached them for land acquisition, they strongly opposed it.
The lawyers also pointed out that the petitioners had already expressed their concerns to the Vikarabad District Collector. However, their objections were ignored. They argued that the government used Section 10(A) of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which allows land acquisition for certain public interest projects like national security, defense, and irrigation. However, the proposed industrial park does not fall under any of these categories.
Additionally, the counsels argued that the government had failed to follow the proper procedures under the Land Acquisition Act. There was no social impact assessment, no process for receiving objections from landowners, and no proper compensation offered under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
After hearing both sides, Justice Rao was not convinced by the arguments of Special Government Pleader Rahul Reddy. The government failed to clarify how much land was actually needed for the industrial park and did not provide details on compensation for affected landowners.
The court has postponed the hearing to March 21 to allow time for counter-affidavits to be filed. Until then, the land acquisition notification remains on hold.
