Disposed

Sri M. Venkat Reddy v. The State of Telangana and 6 Others

Telangana HC12 Jul 2022SUOMOTUWP(PIL)/5/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court examined a Public Interest Litigation alleging illegal transfer of government land to private persons without Assignment Committee approval. The court found that the District Collector had investigated, cancelled fraudulent passbooks, and initiated action against erring officials. The court directed the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration to expeditiously process framed charge

What did the court decide?

Directed the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration to take necessary action regarding the articles of charges against erring officials within 30 days.

Sri M. Venkat Reddy Vs The State of Telangana and 6 Others — Corruption | Telangana HC (2022)

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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGAIiA AT HYDERABAD

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TUESDAY, THE TWELFTH DAY OF JULY

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TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY TWO

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN AND

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THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE SUREPALLI NANDA

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SUOMOTU WRIT PETITION^(PlL) NO: 5 OF 2022

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Between

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Sri lvl. Venkat Reddy, Advocate, H.No.3-7-64115/1, Sai Saptagiri Colony, Mansurabad, LB Nagar, Ranga Reddy Dist., Hyderabad - 500 068.

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...PETITIONER

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AND

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'1. The State of Telangana, Represented by its Chief Secretary, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad.

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The State of Telangana, Represented by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad.

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The Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, Nampally, Hyderabad.

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Chief Vigilance Commissioner, North Wing H-Block, BRK Bhavan, Tank Bund, Hyderabad.

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The District Collector, Nalgonda District, Nalgonda.

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The Revenue Divisional Officer, Miryalaguda, Nalgonda District.

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The Tahsildar, Nidamanoor Mandal, Nalgonda District.

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under Article 226 of Constitution of lndia praying that in compliance with the orders of My Lord Hon'ble the Chief Justice dated 02-022022 and for the reasons stated in the letter dated 7 -12-2021 sent by the petitioner herein, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or orders more particularly one in the nature of Writ of lvlandamus to call for records and remarks from the respondents herein regarding the irregular/illegal assignments made in respect of transfer of Government lands to private persons and not taking action on the complaint filed by the petitioner to the District Collector, Nalgonda District, Chief Vigilance Commissioner, and Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, under section 8 of ROR Act, 2020 against the Revenue officials and others, who illegally transferred without Assignment Committee approval/recommendations transferred the^government land to private persons by violating the rules and regulations in Sy.Nos.541/257lA,

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698/58, 840/578, 961/AA7. 1072138, 1079/EE3 and other government lands in various survey numbers, which are prohibited properties at Thummadum Revenue Village, Nidamanoor lvlandal, Nalgonda District and further, the District Collector directing the concerned RDO to conduct enquiry and submit report vide letter Lr. No. E 1/6872t2021 dated 03.09.2021, who in turn directing the Tahsildar Nidamanoor [/andal and therefore the concerned Tahsildar conducting thorough enquiry on the entire issue and submitting report along with supporting documents vide letter No. A124112021 , wherein the Tahsildar categorically confirming that the above said Government land is illegally transferred without assignment Committee approval, to the private persons. However, the Collector did not evince any interest to take legal action against concerned Revenue Officials and private persons as per Section B of ROR Act,2020 thereby causing huge loss to the Government and the said Government land very much needed for futu re generations.

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l.A.No.1 of 2018

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Petition under Section 151 of C.P.C., praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in supporl of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to issue necessary directions to the respondents herein, and to take necessary legal action as per law against the Revenue Officials and private persons who are involved in lhe above irregular / illegal assignment of the Government land and to pass.

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Counsel for the Petitioner : LETTER

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Counsel for the Respondent No.1 : GP FOR GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

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Counsel for the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 5 to 7 : G.P FOR REVENUE

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Counsel for the Respondent No.4 : G.P FOR HOME

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The Gourt made the following ORDER

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THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN

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AND

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THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE SUREPALLI NANDA SUO MOTUWRIT PETITION^(PILI No.5 of 2O22

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ORDER: (P<:r the lTotr'ble the Clti?f Justice Uial Bllugan)

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Heard Mr. Parsa Ananth Nageshwar Rao, learned Assistant Government Ple:rcler for Rever-rue (Assignment).

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This Suo moro $,rit petition (PIL) \-as registered upon receipt of letter dated 07.12.2021 written by Mr. M.Venkat Reddy, Advocate and addressed to the Chief Justice.

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Contents of the Ietter dated 07.I2.2O21, reads as

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under:

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"Respected Sir,

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l. I (M.Verrkat Reddy, Advocate) filed a complaint to the Collector Na-lgonda Dist, Chief Vigilance Commissioner telangana state and Chief Commissioner of Land Admn. T.S. under Section 8 of ROR Act 2O2O against the Revenue officers and others, who illegally and without Assignment Committee Approval / recommendations transferred the

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)

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H(].,' & SI{J SttO MOT(t lU.P(PIL).No.5 of 2022

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go.ernment land in to private pcrson's rriunt: b1' vrolatrng thc rules and regul:rtior.rs in S.r'.Nos:-S41l257lA, 694/58, n4Ol37A, 961 lAA7, 1072138, lO79lEE3, and other Government lands in various survey numl)ers, which are prohibited propcrties at TI-rummadum Revcnue-Village.Nidamanoormandal, Nalgonda-District. T.S, 'to takc nccessary lcgal action against them as per lar,r,".

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On my complaint the said Collcctor had issued a letter (Ref.No.4) to the concerncd R.D.O to conduct enquiry and submit rcport. After that the said RDO had issuerl a krtter (Ref.No.5) to the concerned Tahsildar, for enquiry.

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After that concerned Tahsrlclar conducted thorough enquiry on entire rssuc arrcl submitted report along with support documents to the said colle ctor and RDO.Lr.No.A/24 | / 2O2l.Dt.8- tO-2O21 (Ref.No.6). In that report the said Tahsildar categorically conflrmed the above said govt. land is illegally, without Assignment comrnittee approval transferred in to thc private person's name and also submitted same report to lhe vigilance commissioncr.

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It worthwhile to mention here that. thc collector Nalgonda-Dist did not evince any

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.) HCJ & .5-1[J SLIO MOTU W.P(PIL).No.5 of 2022

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interest to tal(e lcgal action against the concerned Revcnue oflicers and prirrate persons, who were invohed in the said issue, as per section 8 ofROR ACT 2O2O.

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Section 8 of T S. ROR Acr 202O:- On complaint or otherwise as regards to issue of Pattadar Pass Book-cum-Title Deed fraudulently for Government lzrnd, the Distrrct Collector shall calcel the Pattadar Pass Book-cum-Title Deed and take action for dismissal of the Tahsildar concerned and to initiate Criminal Action, besides resuming the land under 1aw.

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It causes huge loss to the Gouernrnent of Telangana. The satd Gout. land uery much needed for future generotions.

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Hence I rcquest tl're Hon'ble Chief Justice to direct the concerned collector Nalgonda District ald concerned Covernment official to take necessary legal action as per the law against the revenue officers and private persons, who invoh.ed in the above illegal tralsferred of Govt. Land or consider this letter as P.LL. to save the Government land."

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By order dated 08.02.2022, learned Government Pleader \vas granted time to obtain instructions or to^file counter affidavit. Subsequently, counter affidavit^{has been}

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l/( l/ d, s^l./ SLIO MO1't^I \4'.PlPlL1.i\o..t ol' )022

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fiied by rcspondent No.5 i.e., District Collcctor, Niilgonda District. Relevant portion of the counter affidavit are extracted ars under:

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"I respectfully submit that, thc pctitioner herein filed the complaint petition on 31.O7 .2021 before this District Collector, Nalgonda alleging that the Tahsildars '*4ro had u,orked in Nidmaloor Mandal and the VRO of Thummadam Village of Nidmanoor Mandal are illegally and without approval of assignment Committee recorded the Government lzrnds in sy.No.541/257lA, 698/s8, 84ols7a, 961/AA7, 1072138, lO79lEE3 and other Gor,ernment lands at Thummadam Village in the name of following private persons ar-rd requested to take action U/s 8 of the Ncw Telangana Rights in Lands and Pattadar passbook Act, 2O2O against the erring officials duly cancelling the Pattadar Pass Books issued in their favor.

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SI.No.	Sy.No.	Extent	Name
tr	698/58	2.20	Bommu Sriniras
L	54t1257IA	4.20	BommuAdila-rmi
l:	96t/AA7	i.0899	Marthi SurcndarReddl
I	84O/s78	1.r0	MarthiSwetha
l5 I	to72l3a	1.20	Marthi Ninnala
lo	1O79lEE3	0.110	MarthiRamr-rlamma --l

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/.,

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HCJ &, SNJ SttO It/tO't'U W.P(PIL).No.5 of 2022

I I

I I

)

I respectfully submrt that, thc abovc petition hled by the Writ pctitioncr lras been forwarded to the Revenue Divisional Officer, Miryalguda vide Lr.no.El /6872/2021, dated O3.O9.2021 for enquiry and submittcd a report vide Lr.No.Bl3097 12021, DL.IO.O2.2O22, 17.02.2022 & 24.02.2022 on the allegations made by the petitioner herein. Basing on the said report, the then District Collector, Nalgonda issued notices to all interest and effected parties and conducted hearings on t9.o2.2022, 26.02.2022, 05.03.2022, 11.O3.2022, 31.O3.2022, \6.O4.2022 and finally on 23.04.2022 and passed orders vide Procgs.No.E 1/6872 /2021 , dated 08.06.2022.

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I respectfully submit that, the then District Collector, Nalgonda verihed all tl.re records and cancelled thc pattzrdar passbooks issued in favor of the abovc persons mentioned at Sl.No.2 to 5 on the ground that they are not genuine for the reason that the certifrcates which were submitted by them during the enquiry, are not issued from the Tahsildar and came to conclusion that those are not genuine.

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During the enquiry the then District Collector observed that the patta certificates No. Cl1256/2OOT, C/1257 /2007, dated 07.O5.2OOO7, Cl2344l2OO7, dated 09. IO.2OO7, G l 53s6 / 2OOO, dated 30.o9.200 1,

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HC''r clr SIf'/ SUo MOTU W.P(PLL).No.5 o.f 2022

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Cl5565l2OO7, dated 09.1O.2OO7 .rnd Ci3063/2OO7, dated 09.10.2007 saicl to han'e bccrr issucd to the aforesaid (4) persons clirirncd to havc issucd during the ycar 20O7 arrd they submitted Xerox copies of patta c(irtificatc. The 4tt phase land distribution was conducted in thc year 2007, during which the patta certificates were got printed lrom Collcctorate with machine serial number an'rd contains photograph of the assignees. The District Coilector verified t}te patta certificates submitted by them with reference to the patta ccrtificates issued in other maldals including thc Nidmaloor Manda.l in the year 2OO7 and found that the proforma adopted from the C()llectorate is quite different with certificate produced by them and as such the thcn District Collector, Nalgonda cancelled the ccrtificates issued in favor of Bommu Adilaxmi W/o Srinivas, Marthi Surender Reddy S/o. Nagi Reddy, Marthi Swetha W/o Surender Rcddy, Marthi Nirm:rla W/o Ravinder Rcddy vidr: order dated El/687212021, datcd 08.06.2022. The patta of Bommu Srinivas was issued during the year L987 and it is held as genuine. The patta issued in favor of N4arthi Ramulamma, for Sy.No.1O79 was lnarm land but not Government land and she was issued Occupancy Rights Certificate No.B/8778/1994, dated 26.72-1994 ard as such the allegation of the petitioner against

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HC-./ & .SNJ SUO MOTU W.P(PIL).No.5 of 2022

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Marthi Ramulamma was not provcd. I submit that the then District Collector has also ordered for taking action U/s 8 of Tclangana Rights in Lands and Pattadar Passbook Act, 2O2O against the erring Tahsildars who implemented the said patta certificatcs and issued the e-PPBs without proper verification whether those are genuine or not. Thc action has also been ordered against the VRO, Thummadam village for his farlure in protecting Government lands and his failure in assisting the Tahsildars.

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The article of charges have also bc<,n framed and submitted to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, Hyderabad vide District Collector, Nalgond:r file No.A1l 1238/2022, dated 16-06-2022-"

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From the above, u,e find that enquin' \.as carried out by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Miryalguda, Nalgonda District, who submitted reports dated 1O.O2.2022, 17.O2.2O22 ar,d 24.02.2022. On the strength of the reports, respondent No.2 issued notices to the concerned persons whereafter hearing was conducted.

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After hearing the parties and on verification of record, 2.d respondent cancelled the pattadar passbooks

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H(--J & SI{J SUO MOTLr^{w.P(PtL).No.5} of 2022

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issued in far"our of the persons named from Serial No.2^to Scrial No.6 as cxtracted above. It was found that lernd certificates issued to those' persons were not genuine Hou'evcr, th( patta of one person i.e., Bommu Srinivas named at Scrial No. 1^,.r'as found to be genuine. Resporrdent No.2 has also passcd necessarv order for taking action against the e rring^'lahsilrlars trnder Section B of the Telangana Rights in Lancls and Pal-tadar Pass Books Act,2O2O. Action has also been orderecl against the Village Revenue Officer, Thummadam Village for his failure to protect Government lands and assisting the crring Tahsildars in conrmitting i11cga1 acts. Articles of charges have been framed and submitted to the Chief Conrmissioner of Land Administration, Hyderabad on 16.06.2022.

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7 . We are satisfied that steps have been taken by rcsponder-rl No.5-District Collector, Nalgonda District and accordingl.-v direct the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, Hyderabad to do the needful in respect of articles of <:h arges framed against the erriug Tahsildars.

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Hatl ,lt ,s-..,r StlO MOT|t lU.P(PIL).No.5 o.l 2()2.)

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Necessary approval etc., shall be granted within a period of 30 d:rvs from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. Registrr, to communicate a copy of this order to Mr. M.Venkat Recld1,, Adrrocate.

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B. Suo motu Writ Petition (PIL) 1S accorclinglr,'

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disposed of. However, there shali be no order as to costs.

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Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, in this

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Suo ntotu .Vrit Petition (PIL) shal1 stand closed.

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Sd/-T.TIRUMALA DEVI ASSISTANT REGISTRAR

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Note : That the typographical error crept in not addressing copy to petitioner and wrongly reading the date of order in the docket sheet of order dated 12-7 -2022 in Suomotu WP(P|L).No.5 ot 2022, copy to the petitioner has been addressed and the date of order in docket is corrected on a letter dated 14-12-2022 filed by the petitioner.

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This amended order shall substitute the Earlier Order which has already been dispatched on 20-09-2022.

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Sd/.T.TIRUMALA EVI ASSISTANT REGIS RAR

//TRUE COPY'

SECTION OFFICER

The Chief Secretary, Secretariat Buildings, State of Telangana at Hyderabad.

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The Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat Buildings, State of Telangana at Hyderabad.

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The Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, Nampally, Hyderabad.

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The Chief Vigilance Commissioner, North Wing 'H'-Block, BRK Bhavan, Tank Bund, Hyderabad.

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The District Collector, Nalgonda District, Nalgonda.

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The Revenue Divisional Officer, Irliryalaguda, Nalgonda District.

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The Tahsildar, Nidamanoor Mandal, Nalgonda District.

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B. Two CCs to GP FOR GENERAL ADIVINISTRATION, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. [OUT]

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Two CCs to GP FOR HOtt/E, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. IOUTI

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___--.

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Two CCs to GP FOR REVENUE, High Court for the Slate of Telangana at Hyderabad. [OUT] 11. One CC to SRI.M.VENKAT REDDY, Advocate (OPUC)

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Two CD Copies

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1 3. One spare copy S.A \ V

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I t

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HIGH COURIHC,J & SN,J DATED:1210712022

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AMENDED OR.DER

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SUOMOTU WP(PlL).No.5 of 2022

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DrsPostNG oF THE SUOMOTU W.P(P!L) WITHOUT COSTS.

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4O

Sri M. Venkat Reddy v. The State of Telangana and 6 Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Sri M. Venkat Reddy v. The State of Telangana and 6 Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

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