The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Telangana government’s orders facilitating preferential land allotments to MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats, judges and journalists within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.
The significant judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta. The court said that the action violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
While terming the distribution of land as ” capricious” and “irrational” largesse, the bench directed the lease deeds executed under the government orders to be cancelled and the amounts paid to be refunded to the cooperative societies and their members with interest.
The bench said that the state government’s policy was an abuse of power meant to cater exclusively to the affluent sections of the society rejecting the equal right to the common citizen and the socio-economically disadvantaged.
The court criticized the government action saying,’’ when the government allocates land at discounted rates to the privileged few, it engenders a system of inequality.’’
The judgement struck down the 2005 government orders issued by then Andhra Pradesh government, as well as subsequent orders in 2008 that allocated lands at discounted rates to these groups.
