Hyderabad: The Telangana high court thwarted an attempt to encroach on 1.20 acres of land belonging to Sri Laxmi Venkateshwara Swamy Temple at a prime location in Jagathgirigutta, in the heart of the city, and held that records placed before the court established the temple’s ownership over the property spanning a total of 14.10 acres.Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti passed the order recently while disposing of a writ petition filed by the temple management alleging that encroachments by private parties and unauthorised constructions were being carried out on the land. The petitioner told the court that the private respondent, B Indira Goud, a businesswoman, had allegedly occupied around 1.20 acres, converted it into plots, and constructed 12 rooms without permission, while attempts were also being made to create third-party rights over the land. The petitioner further complained that despite representations made to the authorities in Dec, no action had been taken against the encroachments or to protect the temple property.The private respondent, however, contended that the land had been allotted by the govt for the construction of a temple and claimed that several other temples had also come up in the surrounding area.The court examined proceedings pertaining to the land from Jan 2018, pahanies (crucial records indicating land ownership and other key details) for 1994–95 and 1999–2000, and official communications from the Endowments Department and revenue authorities. It noted that a 2013 letter from the assistant commissioner of Endowments had already sought a survey to identify and protect the temple land from encroachments.The court directed the district collector to conduct a joint survey with the revenue divisional officer, assistant director of survey and land records, and endowments department officials for the demarcation of the entire 14.10 acres. It ordered that fencing be erected around the land after demarcation, while ensuring ingress and egress to temples located within the area. The court also directed the Medchal–Malkajgiri district collector to make necessary security arrangements during the survey and fencing exercise.Further, observing that mere fencing of land would not confer ownership rights on private parties, the court nevertheless held that the material on record clearly showed that the 14.10 acres stood endowed to the temple, and directed the district collector and Endowments Department to complete fencing of the entire land.
