Land grabbers go scot-free as Telangana lacks law, special court

Hyderabad: Telangana has been witnessing a flurry of activity against those encroaching upon govt land, lakes and public places, but the govt can do precious little as it cannot initiate any criminal action or punish these land grabbers in the absence of a stringent law.
With the previous BRS govt repealing the Telangana Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act of 1982 in June 2016 and the special court for land grabbing cases transferring the cases to regular civic courts, legal advisors and land laws experts are suggesting immediate revival of Land Grabbing Act and special courts to rein in land grabbers.
Four states enacted law
M Sunil Kumar, advocate and land laws expert, said while Telangana repealed the Land Grabbing Act, four states — Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka and Assam — enacted the Act in the last 13 years. "Among the states, Gujarat's Land Grabbing Act is powerful as anyone or any firm is proven guilty of grabbing a piece of land, the court can award 10 years of jail sentence," he told TOI.
While Gujarat promulgated the Act in 2020, Odisha brought it in 2015. Karnataka did so in 2014 and Assam back in 2011.
"After bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh in 2014, the residuary AP is continuing the Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act," Sunil said.
Land laws experts said if any individual wants to file a complaint, both criminal and civil suits must be filed separately. "The present Land Encroachment Act deals with only minor encroachments. Collectors at the district level and tahsildar and deputy tahsildar can collect penalty if anyone cultivates on govt land or raises some illegal structure. There is only a provision to collect penal fee based on the assessment of the loss to the govt. Whereas under the Land Grabbing Act, both criminal and civil issues can be addressed," Sunil explained.
Senior officials point out to rise in trespassing cases in the state, especially in Hyderabad, as there is no Land Grabbing Act, with many individuals filing trespassing complaints in police stations.
The Land Grabbing Act was enacted in 1982 to arrest and curb the unlawful activities of land grabbers from their organised attempts to grab — either by force or by deceit or otherwise — lands belonging to govt and other state agencies. The Act stipulated that a special court headed by a retired high court judge would dispose of land grabbing cases within six months. Apart from govt, even individual property owners could approach the courts.
BRS repealed Act
In the earlier AP Land Grabbing Act, the punishment was a minimum of six months of jail which could be extended up to five years along with a fine of 5,000.
The BRS govt repealed the Act, arguing that the purpose of constituting special courts and special tribunals for disposal of land grabbing cases within the prescribed period was getting defeated and that there were several instances where it took years to take cognisance of the cases themselves.
The govt also argued that the Land Encroachment Act of 1905 could deal with land encroachments.