Tough for TS to take back lands

Registered land can’t be declared null & void

It will not be easy for the state government to resume or get back the land in Miyapur merely by declaring that the registration documents are “null and void”.

The government has to follow procedures under the Registration Act and may face legal hurdles.

Revenue department sources said if the government can reclaim lands just by declaring registered documents of private individuals as “null and void”, why are thousands of acres of government land still encroached upon, and have been for decades, and why has the government been fighting thousands of cases in various courts for decades to clear encroachments?

The first thing the government has to do to reclaim these lands is to notify the lands under Section 22 of the Registration Act, stating that these are government lands and cannot be registered. The survey numbers have to be blocked in the online registration system so that no one can register them.

But in the case of the Miyapur, the state had notified lands under Sec. 22 of the Registration Act, in 2007 and 2011, but for some unknown reason, the revised list published in 2013 and 2015 missed out these lands, which allowed land-grabbers to register the properties in their names.

It will not be easy for the state government to resume or get back the land in Miyapur merely by declaring that the property registration documents are “null and void”.

The second challenge before the government is the multiple claimants for these lands, mostly kin of the Nizam and Paigah families, who have filed several cases in the courts. It will be difficult for the government to notify these lands under Section 22 and even if it does so, it will be challenged in the courts.

Sources said that anything that is registered with the registration department is a legal document. It cannot be made null and void just like that. The government has to issue a notification specifying all the survey numbers it owns. It also has to notify the documents of private parties through which these lands were registered and issue a notice stating that all these documents will be cancelled and whoever has objections can file petition with the government. After examining their petitions, the government can cancel registrations. But the aggrieved parties can still approach courts challenging this notification.

Revenue principal secretary B.R. Meena said that the government will reclaim these lands easily as the registrars committed several lapses, which cannot stand legal scrutiny.

“In Miyapur or Balanagar land cases, the lands were registered as movable property, which is a huge violation. Secondly, the lands were not transferred; only litigation rights were transferred in the name of GPAs, which is also a big lapse. These two things are enough for government to reclaim these lands and fight successfully in the courts,” he said.

Mr Meena said the government has already cancelled these land deals and all the lands are under the possession of the government now.

“The government has not lost an inch of these lands. All the transactions done were illegal and we have cancelled them. We have all the lands in our possession,” he repeated.

“There is no need to issue a separate GO on this. They are very much government lands and we have the right to reclaim them from anyone who has registered them,” he said.