Legal circles:HC to hear 2 PILs on April 29 for CBI probe into allotment of 850-acre govt land to IMG Bharata

Hyderabad: Gandra Mohan Rao, senior counsel appearing for two petitioners seeking a CBI probe into the allotment of 850 acres of prime land worth crores of rupees to IMG Bharata Academies Pvt Ltd, on Wednesday informed the Telangana High Court’s division bench--comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Jukanti Anil Kumar--that more than 12 years have passed since the filing of the two PILs pressing for a CBI probe. He said the present worth of 850 acres of government land in the market is more than Rs 1 lakh crore and that many senior leaders under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu, the then CM, played a crucial role in the allotment which needs an in-depth inquiry.

The counsel told the court that the special leave petition filed by IMG Bharata Academies Ltd in the Supreme Court, challenging the HC order by CJ Aradhe dated March 7 this year is not yet been numbered; even if it is numbered, the SLP will not have any effect on the adjudication of the two PILs. The division bench, comprising CJ Aradhe and Justice AK Jukanti, had “dismissed” the writ petition filed by IMG Bharata which claimed ownership of the 850 acres; it was rejected by the court which restored the land in State government’s favour. The division bench was adjudicating the two PILs filed by ABK Prasad and another from Kondapur and another PIL filed by advocate T Sriranga Rao, seeking a direction to the CBI to probe the allotment of 850 acres by the then AP government to IMG Bharata in a non-transparent manner at a very less cost to build, develop, own and operate sports academies. The CJ bench adjourned the two PILs to April 29 for further hearing.