GITAM land allotment challenged

By Our Legal Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 3. Mr. Justice G. Raghuram of the A.P.High Court on Monday admitted a writ petition seeking a direction to the Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau, to prosecute the officers who caused loss of crores of rupees to the Government while alienating lands to an engineering college at Visakhapatnam headed by a prominent leader of the ruling party.

The writ petition has been filed by Lakshman Rao and Appal Raju of Visakhapatnam. The petitioners alleged that the district-level officers had colluded with the management of Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) and alienated 71 acres of government land at the rate of Rs.18,000 per acre. The petitioners contended that as per the official records, the cost of the land per acre was Rs.1,30,000.

The petitioners said that the value of the land will be higher if the land was divided into plots and sold. Their contention was that the management gained to the tune of Rs.20 crores. They said that the land was being used for purposes other than educational. They narrated how the management had been violating the law of the land. The petitioners sought a direction to the ACB to proceed against the officers concerned.

The judge directed the respondents to file counter- affidavits within four weeks.

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Section  : Southern States
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