Telangana High Court dismisses farmers’ writ petition for grant of pattas for 164.20 acres in Mahabubnagar

Petitioners claim land as compensation for their properties submerged under Dindi project

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by 103 farmers from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Backward Class (BC) communities, seeking the grant of pattas for 164.20 acres at Kandlakunta Regadi in Amrabad mandal of Mahabubnagar district.

The petitioners claimed the land as compensation for their properties submerged under the Dindi project.

Despite having been cultivating the land on a 20-year lease granted in 1967, the petitioners faced repeated denial of pattas from the State government, which cited the land’s designation as part of a reserved forest.

In their petition, the farmers argued that their ancestors had been allotted the land as part of a rehabilitation effort.

However, the government maintained that the land fell under the Amrabad Reserve Forest and thus could not be allocated for private use under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka ruled that forest land cannot be diverted for private ownership and that revenue authorities lacked the jurisdiction to issue pattas for such land.

Furthermore, the petitioners’ claim based on prolonged possession did not meet the 75-year requirement under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.