VIJAYAWADA: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Thursday pulled up the executive officer of Sri Kodanda Rama Swamy temple situated in Kovur mandal of Nellore district for failure to submit original records on the temple land issue. “Do you want to fool us by submitting wrong records.
How dare you include the documents of the PIL case in your file and say that they are the original records. You have either been bribed or restrained by some outside forces to withdraw your earlier letter against registration of the temple land. The court is least bothered whether there might be political forces or official machinery. The court will be firm against such forces,” the bench warned.
Pursuant to earlier direction of the court, temple EO Ramakrishna appeared before the bench of Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice SV Bhatt that is dealing with a batch of petitions filed separately by E Sridhar Reddy and three others and K Suseelamma and 121 others of SPSR Nellore district, seeking direction to the authorities to submit a status report on the assigned lands which were allotted to IFFCO in Regadichilaka, Racherlapadu and Bodduvaripalem villages of Kodavalur mandal, Uchaguntapalem and Chowtaputhedu of Dagadarthi mandal and North Amuluru of Allur village of the district. The petitioners sought a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the land allotments to IFFCO.
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On earlier occasion, the petitioners’ counsel urged the court to set aside the allotment of about 2,776 acres, including 1,009 acres of Sri Kodanda Rama Swamy temple at Kovur, 1,129 acres of assigned land and 500 acres of government land to IFFCO without following any procedure or invoking the Land Acquisition Act or without paying any compensation either to the temple or to the assignees. In 2008, the court then directed the revenue authorities to maintain status quo on the lands.
The court also directed the authorities of IFFCO and others concerned not to provide rights to others on the subject lands. Further, the Court directed the Kavali RDO to find out the ownership rights of the lands belonging to the temple.
On Wednesday, after perusing the records available on record, the bench found that the temple EO had written another letter withdrawing his earlier letter in spite of status quo order. The bench expressed doubts on the letter issued by the EO giving scope for registrations by interpreting the court order, and summoned him for explanation.
When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, the bench, after perusing the record submitted by the EO, warned him not to invite trouble by trifling with the courts. “It appears true the statement made by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy that the governments were controlling the temples. Who have given the permission to include in the revenue records the land to be given in favour of IFFCO chairman in 2012 and how registrations took place for the lands which were in the prohibited list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act?” the bench sought to know from the government pleader.
While granting another opportunity to the EO, the bench directed him to file counter affidavit by placing facts before the court.
The government counsel submitted that no land registrations took place after withdrawal of the EO’s letter. AP advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas said that the lands were registered in favour of the IFFCO long back. Intervening, the bench said that there was a difference between the land registrations in favour of IFFCO and registration of land of about 524 acres in the name of IFFCO chairman. It appears that the land allotments to IFFCO were made for having benami transactions. The bench directed the government counsel to file an additional affidavit informing the activities that took place on the issue between 2000 and 2017.