27 years, house not yet in order!

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JULY 10. It has been an agonising wait for 27 years, marked by prolonged legal battles, for 374 members of Bagh Amberpet Welfare Society (20 of them have passed away) to secure houses under the MCH-HUDC0 scheme of 1974.

Their misery is compounded by the fact that even after a Supreme Court ruling on September 14, 1999, the administration is yet to decide on the allotment of land near Bathkammakunta to the members who paid over Rs. 40 lakhs towards land value, betterment and other charges in 1981-82.

The MCH had proposed the acquisition of over 20 acres at Bagh Amberpet on June 4, 1975. The land belonged to one Mr. Syed Azam and others -- a major portion of it belonged to Mr. Azam. However, land owners of Tulsi Cooperative Housing Society created litigation in the acquisition and the litigation continued in the A.P. High Court and the Supreme Court from 1976 to 1999.

During the pendency of the appeals in the Supreme Court, the State Government had cancelled the exemption on the ground that the owners had violated the condition, transferred the land to third parties and made huge profits. The Tulsi Society had filed a writ petition in 1983 challenging the withdrawal of the exemption. Mr. Azam, too, contested it.

In 1988, the High Court had dismissed the writ petitions since civil appeals were pending in the Supreme Court. In the same year, the apex court upheld the acquisition and asked the parties to negotiate a settlement with Government approval.

Two years later, the Supreme Court remitted the case to the High Court with a direction to decide the case in the light of the settlement or otherwise they must conclude its findings on the acquisition as `valid'. The Government had not agreed to the negotiated settlement as the land was in excess under the ULCA.

In 1992, the High Court had ordered land acquisition proceedings to be completed as expeditiously as possible, preferably within three months. It limited the compensation to be paid to the land owners to over Rs. 25.24 lakhs. The court also said the Tulsi Society was at liberty to work out its right vis-a-vis land owners.

The MCH, in April 1993, took steps for clearance of the land and demarcate the plots to enable the allotment to the applicants of 1974. At this juncture, the Tulsi Society, Mr. Azam and the Government had filed special leave petitions in the Supreme Court, seeking stay of the High Court orders of November 22, 1992.

In 1999, the Supreme Court while upholding the land acquisition had ordered that the land should be properly utilised by the Government in order to achieve the purpose for which it was acquired. The court said the Government may nominate a suitable committee for carrying out the objects of the acquisition in appropriate manner. Last year, the Tulsi Society filed a review petition in the Supreme court but it was dismissed.

Following the court order, the Government had constituted a committee, with the Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration, as convener. The committee met twice last year. Mr. P. Mohan Rao, president, Bagh Amberpet Welfare Society, has urged the Government, the MCH and the committee to expedite the distribution of land to the members.

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Section  : Southern States
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