Harish Rao accuses Revanth of taking credit for land cases won under BRS government

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of taking credit for land cases fought and won by the previous BRS government. BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao said the Chief Minister’s claims about protecting government lands from encroachments were either false or half-truths.

“Revanth Reddy should stop this credit theft drama. He should order an inquiry by a sitting judge into the Manchirevula Greyhounds registration scam, the Kanche Gachibowli broker commissions and other cases,” Harish Rao demanded.

A day after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the Miyapur lands, the Chief Minister was already pressuring Collectors to put the land up for sale, Harish Rao alleged.

“With whom has he taken advances?” he asked.

At a press conference here on Saturday, Harish Rao countered the Chief Minister’s claims by presenting court judgments and orders, registration documents, encumbrance certificate copies and Bhu Bharati records.

Manchirevula Greyhounds land: 142 acres and an alleged Rs 2,000-crore scam

Revanth Reddy had claimed that the BRS government tried to sell 142 acres of land at Manchirevula, worth Rs 10,000 crore, and that he had saved it.

Harish Rao dismissed this claim, saying the land had been the subject of a 50-year legal battle. In the undivided State, the Congress government lost the case before a single judge of the High Court on February 5, 2010. The judgment went in favour of private parties, and the Congress government handed over the land, Harish Rao said.

After the BRS came to power, the then Greyhounds wing informed the Chief Minister that the government had lost the Manchirevula Greyhounds land case. Permission was sought to engage senior advocates from Delhi to save the land.

Accordingly, senior Supreme Court advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Giri were engaged. On December 31, 2021, a High Court division bench ruled that the land belonged to the government. The private parties challenged the order in the Supreme Court. On August 1, 2023, the Supreme Court bench ruled that all 142 acres belonged to the State.

“The BRS government was in power on August 1, 2023. Congress lost this land. And now Revanth Reddy blames us for it,” Harish Rao said.

He further alleged that the Greyhounds compound wall on the southern side near Mrugavani was demolished overnight under the Congress government. An extent of 10 acres and 10 guntas was left with private parties. A new compound wall was built further inside within two days, he charged.

The 10 acres and 10 guntas were registered in the names of Dream Valley Resorts Private Limited and Dream Valley Properties through Mohammed Ameer Salauddin and eight others. The companies were represented by K Santosh Reddy, Harish Rao said. He added that Bhu Bharati records continued to show the land as belonging to the Greyhounds.

He alleged that another 10 acres had also been lost. In 2018, the BRS government issued a land acquisition notification for an adjoining 10 acres because the Greyhounds firing range required additional space. Private parties challenged the notification in court.

After the Congress government came to power, a High Court single judge quashed the notification on September 3, 2026. However, the judgment clearly stated that the order did not prevent the government from initiating fresh acquisition proceedings under the 2013 Act if the land was genuinely required in the public interest.

“Three months have passed. The Congress government has not appealed to the division bench and has not issued a fresh notification. In effect, another 10 acres worth Rs 1,000 crore has been left to private parties,” Harish Rao said.

Miyapur and the Trinity case

The Chief Minister had accused the BRS of colluding with Goldstone Prasad. Harish Rao countered this claim, saying it was the BRS government that ordered a CID inquiry and suspended the two sub-registrars who had executed the registrations on the same day.

Dr Prasad’s brother Parthasarathy, along with PVS Sharma and Srinivasa Rao, were arrested and sent to jail under the BRS government, Harish Rao said.

Senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan represented the State government in the Trinity Infraventures case and secured a favourable High Court judgment on August 16, 2018. The judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, which upheld it on June 15, 2023, declaring that the land belonged to the government. Harish Rao said the case had been won under the BRS government.

He said the case had been fought for 23 years, with the BRS government arguing it in 95 hearings. After the Congress government came to power, only 11 hearings were held, he added.

“Ironically, Salman Khurshid, a Congress Union Minister, argued against the government in the Miyapur lands case,” Harish Rao said.

Bhupalpally forest land

Harish Rao said neither the Congress nor the TDP governments had made any attempt to protect the 106 acres of forest land in Bhupalpally between 1994 and 2014. After Telangana was formed, the KCR government fought the case and secured a favourable ruling from a High Court single judge in 2018. The court held that the land belonged to the Forest Department.

The order was challenged and on March 19, 2021, a High Court division bench ruled in favour of a private party. The individual immediately entered about 106 to 110 acres at Bhupalpally and began work without following any procedure, Harish Rao said.

The BRS government immediately directed the Collector and the police to act. Forest, revenue and trespassing cases were registered, and four people were sent to jail. Within a month of the division bench judgment, in May 2021, the BRS government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. CS Vaidyanathan was engaged again and argued the case from 2021 to 2024, Harish Rao said.

The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on April 18, 2024, exactly three months after the Revanth Reddy government took
office.

“How could Revanth Reddy, who had not even settled into his chair, argue and win this case in the Supreme Court in three months?” Harish Rao asked.

IMG Bharat lands and the Kancha Gachibowli mortgage

Harish Rao alleged that TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu had offered 400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli and 450 acres at Mamidipally, a total of 850 acres, to IMG’s Billy Rao at Rs 50,000 an acre. Revanth Reddy was a TDP leader at the time, he pointed out.

After the formation of Telangana, the 850 acres were removed from the revenue prohibition list to prevent any encroachment. The BRS also argued the case in the High Court with eminent lawyers for nine years and brought it to its final stage, Harish Rao said.

Revanth Reddy was sworn in as Chief Minister on December 7, 2023. The IMG judgment was delivered exactly three months later, on March 7, 2024.

When he realised that the land could not be sold directly, Revanth Reddy mortgaged 400 acres to the Bombay Stock Exchange without informing university students or officials. He also raised Rs 10,000-crore loan at a high interest rate, Harish Rao alleged.

“To arrange that Rs 10,000-crore loan, Rs 400 crore was paid as commission to a broker from Mumbai,” he said.

Sahebnagar forest land

After the High Court ruled against the government in the case involving forest land at Sahebnagar village in Hayathnagar mandal, the BRS government approached the Supreme Court.

Harish Rao said the Supreme Court delivered its judgment six months to a year after the Revanth Reddy government took office. He accused the Chief Minister of claiming credit for saving the land despite the BRS government’s role in pursuing the case.

“If KCR is known for trust, Revanth Reddy is known for selling government land and is the brand ambassador for lying,” Harish Rao said.