New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday said the Supreme Court's verdict on a disputed plot of prime land in Hyderabad has saved state government property worth Rs 50,000 crore, which will now be used for irrigation, education and healthcare.
"The cabinet will discuss and take a call," he told reporters here.
Terming the apex court's judgment on the Miyapur land plot a "slap in the face" of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government and former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), Reddy questioned the party's silence on the verdict, also demanding a debate on land encroachment in the assembly.
In its October 29 order, the Supreme Court ruled that the disputed land belongs to the Telangana government, rejecting private ownership claims over about 550 acres and 39 guntas in Survey No. 100 and 101 of Serilingampally mandal.
Reddy said the government had presented a strong case in court, and officials had been instructed to take steps to reclaim the land.
He said the government is planning to sell valuable lands and use the proceeds for irrigation, education and healthcare.
The cabinet sub-committee on resource mobilisation would examine the sale of lands and the development projects that could be taken up, he added.
The chief minister claimed the government has protected lands worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore from illegal occupation since 2023. He further said lands at Gachibowli and Mamidipally had been saved from encroachment by BRS leaders, and the government had won a legal battle over them.
Alleging that KCR, his family members and BRS leaders had tried to encroach upon valuable lands in Hyderabad and across Telangana, Reddy said he had fought land grabbing by the KCR family as an MLA, MP and state Congress president. "The erstwhile BRS government developed a grudge against me and sent me to jail," he said.
Reddy alleged that BRS working president K T Rama Rao (KTR), in collusion with builders from Rayalaseema, had attempted to encroach upon 143 acres in Manchirevula. The government protected the land and has set up a school for children of police personnel there, he said.
He further alleged that KTR, along with members of the Bhalerao family, had tried to misappropriate "IMG lands" (in Kancha Gachibowli), an attempt the government thwarted through a legal battle.
The chief minister also said KTR had tried to encroach upon forest land in Gurramguda, and the Supreme Court ruled the land belongs to the forest department.
In Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, he alleged, the previous government had handed over 400 acres of forest land as a "gift" to an MLA who had defected to the BRS. The government fought the case in the Supreme Court and secured the land, he said.
Land in Bhadradri Kothagudem district was also protected from encroachment by BRS leaders, he added.
Reddy accused senior BRS leader T Harish Rao and his uncle Hanumantha Rao of obstructing officials from surveying encroached lands allegedly held by the family, and of obtaining a stay order from the court.
He said KCR and Harish Rao had filed cases over the Padmalaya Studios and Lanco lands of undivided Andhra Pradesh. "Why did they not take possession of these lands after coming to power?" he asked, alleging that after assuming office, the two entered into an arrangement with the very individuals they had earlier gone after.
"KCR and KTR should mend their ways and stop land grabbing," the chief minister said.
