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Lease of VM Home land to police department set aside
The Telangana State government suffered yet another legal setback with the High Court at Hyderabad on Tuesday setting aside the two GOs related to the lease of 10- acre land belonging to Victoria Memorial Home to Rachakonda Police Commissionerate for housing its headquarters.
Hyderabad: The Telangana State government suffered yet another legal setback with the High Court at Hyderabad on Tuesday setting aside the two GOs related to the lease of 10- acre land belonging to Victoria Memorial Home to Rachakonda Police Commissionerate for housing its headquarters.
The High Court also made it clear to the government that it cannot deal with endowment properties in a whimsical manner and found fault with the leasing of these lands for a period of 11 years without conducting public auction. The court concluded that the present GOs were issued without following the procedure contemplated in the Endowments Act and the Rules framed thereunder and quashed the same with the rider that if the government needed those lands, it must acquire the same following due process of law.
The division bench comprising Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice G Shyam Prasad delivered the judgement to this effect on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by the V M Home Orphan Old Students Association president L Buchi Reddy challenging the GO MS No. 48 and 50 issued by the government leasing 10 acres of VM Home lands to Rachakonda Police Commissionerate.
The bench once again heard the arguments of Special Government Pleader A Sanjeev Kumar and the senior counsel for the petitioner S Satyam Reddy on Tuesday and proceeded to pronounce the judgment. The bench observed that after perusing the record, it became clear that not only this government but those from 1959 itself had been slowly taking over the institution from the Trust endowment nature it had. It termed it as a “slow encroachment” of the property. Since the nature of the institution is clearly in the form of a charitable endowment, the government has no right whatsoever to alienate the said property.
Any decision to do so must emanate as a request from the institution. The bench observed that a perusal of the record showed that it was not the case. The government needed the land for Police Department, it requisitioned it and the Scheduled Caste Development Department fell in line and agreed for the lease. Nowhere were the trustees, or the Executive Committee consulted, which is against the statute, noted the bench.
The bench also found it curious that this institute has been placed in the Tenth Schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act. It took objection to the GO issued two days before the appointed day stating that this institute devolve on the State of Telangana and wondered how such a thing can be stated about an endowed property.
Pointing out that the government was merely a custodian of an endowed property, the bench made it clear that if the government felt the needed the lands, it must adopt acquisition route by paying compensation to the Trust and allowed the Writ petition (PIL) while setting aside the two impugned GOs.
