Telangana High Court Orders CID Probe into Government Land Encroachments in Injapur

The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to conduct a Crime Investigation Department (CID) inquiry into the encroachment of government lands in survey number 126 of Injapur village, Rangareddy district. The court highlighted the alleged involvement of both government officials and private individuals in the matter.

Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka, while disposing of a writ petition filed by a citizen, instructed the Principal Secretary of the Revenue department to initiate disciplinary action against those who failed to prevent the encroachments. The judge specifically named the Tahsildar and the Grama Palana Officer as first-level officials who should face action.

The court ordered the government to recover the illegally occupied land and submit a report within four weeks. In his order, Justice Bheemapaka observed that officials at various levels—from the top to the field level, including police and revenue officers—were seemingly shielding the encroachers of valuable government land.

The judge noted that officials had attempted to evade the issue on various pretexts. The Collector filed a counter affidavit only after the court ordered the appearance of the Principal Secretary for Revenue. The judge remarked that the responses from other officials reflected a 'stoic silence and apparently wilful blindness to the large-scale encroachments,' as evident from the counter affidavit.

Justice Bheemapaka further expressed concern that the state machinery appeared to be actively aiding the encroachment of government land at the expense of public revenue.