Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has removed a key legal obstacle that had stalled the regularisation of lands purchased through Sada Bainamas for several years.
On Tuesday, August 26, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice GM Mohiuddin lifted the interim stay issued in November 2020, which had halted the implementation of Government Order (GO) 112 dated October 2020.
The GO was initially challenged by Shinde Devidas of Nirmal district, who questioned the legality of regularisation without specific provisions under the Dharani Land Law. At the time, the High Court had issued interim orders restraining the government from proceeding with the scheme.
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Court’s ruling
The bench observed that since the old Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971 (ROR Act) has been repealed and replaced by the new Bhu Bharati Act, the public interest litigation filed on the basis of the old law had become redundant. It therefore quashed the 2020 interim orders, clearing the way for the state government to go ahead with regularisation.
The court made it clear that if petitioners wish to contest provisions under the new Act, they are free to file fresh petitions. However, it refused to permit amendments to the old petition, remarking that dragging on the same case would only delay the process further.
Government’s stand
Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy argued that the government is committed to regularising lands purchased under sada bainamas if they were in continuous possession for at least 12 years prior to 2014. He informed the court that over nine lakh applications had been received during the 2020 notification period under GO 112.
He further stated that the new Bhu Bharati Act provides a clear legal framework through Section 6, which empowers the government to regularise such holdings—particularly benefiting small and marginal farmers.
Petitioner’s argument
Senior advocate J Prabhakar, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the new Act too was discriminatory since it permits only the regularisation of previously filed applications and bars the acceptance of fresh ones.
He requested that the court restrain the government from issuing regularisation orders for at least a week to allow the filing of a fresh petition.
The bench, however, refused, stating that the interim orders could no longer stand as a barrier to implementation of the scheme.
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