The Telangana High Court has ordered the government to halt, until further notice, the alienation of land belonging to the Government Junior College for Boys in Devarakonda, Nalgonda district, for the construction of an integrated vegetable and non-vegetable market. The bench is made up of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji.
The state government was issued notices by the bench, directing them to provide their responses before the next hearing on August 18, 2023. The Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Revenue), as well as the Commissioner of Intermediate Education, the Nalgonda District Collector, the Devarakonda Municipality Commissioner, and other officials represented the state government at the hearing.
Tutupalli Ravi Kumar, an attorney and resident of Devarakonda, has filed a PIL against the Collector's orders mandating the transfer of almost two acre of the college's property to the Municipal Commissioner for the purpose of building the market on December 9, 2022.
The Government Junior College for Boys was founded about 50 years ago on property provided by Thanam Buchyalu and Seelam Venkanna, according to Tera Rajanikanth Reddy, who represented the petitioner. The college serves more than 1,000 students from more than 50 villages in and around Devarakonda. The 11-acre site also includes a public elementary school and a secondary school, according to him.
The impugned land allotment violated government guidelines, which require consent from the heads of the departments concerned for land transfers, said the counsel. By unilaterally allocating the land to construct the market, the collector is contradicting these guidelines, argued the prosecutors.
Allowing the implementation of the impugned order would adversely affect the education and future prospects of the college's students, he further said, as the market would disrupt campus activities, cause increased traffic movement, and hinder the smooth functioning of the college.
The court, after considering all these arguments, ordered a stay and issued notices to the respondents.
