Telangana high court orders officials to trace records of land worth Rs 500 crore in Khajaguda

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court has directed the Rangareddy district revenue authorities and the principal secretary of the revenue department to locate and produce the records of a prime 10-acre land parcel in Khajaguda, Serilingampally, after officials claimed that the documents were “not traceable.

” The land is estimated at over ₹50 crore per acre. The petition was filed by S Ashok Kumar Goud, a farmer, and his family members, who sought certified copies of the records for filing a civil suit related to the land. Despite repeated requests made to the revenue divisional officer and the divisional administrative officer of Rajendranagar division in March, the petitioners were informed that the relevant files could not be found.The land in question comprises eight survey numbers and is located adjacent to an international school. Given its high commercial value, the petitioners moved the high court after officials failed to provide the records, raising suspicion about the loss or suppression of documents.

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Mohammed Adnan argued that under the Telangana Land Reforms Act, the land declarations and calculation records are permanent in nature and must be preserved.

Surplus lands go to the state, and declarants are given full ownership of the lands they retain, contended Adnan.He also said that the petitioners are entitled to access them either under the Right to Information Act, 2005, or the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) Act, 2023.Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy, who heard the matter, ruled that it was the legal responsibility of the authorities to trace and produce the original records.

The court directed the officials to make a thorough effort to locate the documents by consulting the offices of the district collector or the land reforms appellate tribunal.Significantly, the court also observed that if the original records remain unavailable despite diligent efforts, the petitioners may rely on certified secondary documents under section 65 of the BSA Act, 2023, in accordance with legal procedure.