HC sets aside 3.70 acres land allotment to IAMC at Raidurg

Telangana High Court on Friday set aside the allotment of 3.7 acres of government land, made by the then BRS government in 2021, to International Arbitration and Mediation Centre which was formed vide a trust deed executed by the then Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana.

The bench of Justices K. Lakshman and K. Sujana, pronouncing verdict in a batch of two PIL petitions challenging allotment of land, however, upheld the decisions of the government granting ₹3 crore to IAMC, providing operational expenses to it and designating it as the arbitration centre for all State government departments. The judges, however, made it clear that Telangana government should get IAMC’s accounts audited by the Principal Accountant General (Audit) or any other competent officer.

The Bench also said that “any release of funds after the lapse of five years as mentioned in the MoU signed by IAMC and State government IN 2021 should be subject to the performance of IAMC”. The PIL petitioners contended that government abused its power and caused significant loss to the State’s exchequer by allocating 3.70 acres of land in prime locality like Raidurg of Serilingampally in Rangareddy district, which areas is centre of IT companies and valued at hundreds of crores of rupees, freely to a private entity like IMAC. According to them, there is no provision permitting the government land free of cost.

They also apprehended that allotment of land free of cost to IAMC and financial assistance involved favouritism and possible misuse of allotted land. They also said vesting such high-value land in a trust which can sell the same was arbitrary and there was no justifiable public purpose in allowing that land. Responding to these contentions, the State government and the IAMC said the land was allotted under Section 25 of the Telangana Land Revenue Act, 1317 Fasli and the allotment was justified legally. 

Observing that matters involving “allotment of land and distribution of State largesse cannot be done free of cost”, the two-judge Bench said the governments should ensure that they are adequately compensated for parting with natural resources vested in them. “Free allotment of land cannot be justified unless the purpose of allotment is greater and such allotment is to an institution or person who earns no profit,” it said. 

The Bench pointed out that ‘the conduct of the government in allotting the land was unduly hasty’. The possession certificate was issued to IAMC ‘even fore formulating and communicating the terms of allotment’. “Such hasty decisions do not bode well and often result in exercise of power contrary to the procedure,” the judgement said. Discretionary power should not only be fair and transparent, but also should be seen to be fair and transparent, the Bench said. 

Noting that allotment of land falls under the realm of government policy, the Bench said the GO Ms. no. 126 issued by the government allotting land to IAMC was in contravention of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Alienation of State Lands and Land Revenue Rules-1975. The allotment was also in violation of GO Ms. 571 comprising uniform guidelines and constituted ‘Government Land Allotment Policy’, the judgement said.