Telangana HC ends 16-year land row: Bholakpur slum status under review; collector told to act in 6 months, inform GHMC

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court has disposed of a long-pending dispute over a property located in Bholakpur, Secunderabad, originally filed in 2008, along with a connected contempt case from 2021.

The court directed the Hyderabad district collector to conduct an inquiry under the provisions of the Slum Improvement Act and to complete it within six months.The court further directed the collector to issue a reasoned order, taking into account all relevant facts, and to communicate the same to the petitioners in both the writ and contempt petitions, as well as to GHMC for necessary action. The dispute concerns approximately 12,056 square yards of private land known as 'Ramaswamy compound,' of which 9,000 square yards were notified as a slum area in 1999.

The writ petitioners, claiming to be absolute owners of the land, challenged slum notification.

Meanwhile, the contempt petitioners contested the 2007 GHMC eviction orders and a 2016 HC direction to maintain status quo. They also claimed to have been in possession of land for several decades, while the 2008 petitioners stated they had already secured eviction orders under Rent Control Act. While the petitioners in the contempt case alleged unauthorised demolition on the disputed land, the advocate commissioner's report found no proof of such activity.