Telangana HC sets aside Karimnagar Collector’s order over Kothapally lands

Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court set aside the case filed by the District Collector of Karimnagar in May this year, canceling the registered sale deeds in favor of some persons in respect of some lands falling under survey numbers 197 and 198 of Kothapally on the outskirts of Karimnagar.

The Collector canceled the sale deeds on the grounds that the properties formed part of the prohibited list maintained under Section 22A of the Telangana Registration Act, 1908. Questioning the validity of this section, many people had earlier moved the HC by filing writ petitions regarding different properties.

The judge observed that there was inconsistency between the decisions given by the two Division Benches of the HC in terms of the binding nature of the decision of the Full Bench of the erstwhile HC of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in the case of Vinjamuri Rajagopala Chary v. Revenue Department.

This inconsistency raised relevant questions regarding the interpretation of Section 22 A of the 1908 Act. In his judgment, the judge said that a Board of appropriate power should be constituted to clarify the position of the law on this issue. He directed the Registry to forward the order to the CJ for appropriate orders.