Former union power secretary and activist Dr EAS Sarma alleged that the government had issued GO MS No. 41 dated 17.02.2016 only to regularise the purchase of assigned lands and it was illegal.
In the light of media reports that ministers, MPs and important politicians belonging to TDP had purchased the assigned lands in a big way in the capital region, he requested the state government to institute a judicial inquiry by a sitting Judge of High Court into the large scale land scam .
He said the GO MS No 41 issued to regularise the land transactions had violated the AP Assigned Lands(prohibition of transfer)Act, 1977. The GO, Dr Sarma alleged, was issued by way of a largesse to some influential political leaders of the ruling party, who had illegally grabbed the lands assigned to the landless by using their money power.
“Instead of taking over the lands and penalising the illegal buyers, it is laughable that the government should make an unreasonable exception in violation of the relevant Act and shower undue compensation on them. It will have the effect of opening the floodgates to other similar grabbers of assigned land throughout the state,” he said in a letter written to Ajeya Kallam, special chief secretary, Revenue, government of Andhra Pradesh.
The State Revenue department, Dr Sarma warned, if it acquiesces in this, would become a party to State-wide infringement of the AP Assigned Lands (prohibition of transfers)Act, 1977.The latest media reports on land grabbing by senior political leaders of the ruling party not only corroborate his apprehension as stated above but also exposes a much larger land scam in the APCRDA area, he said and added that “Grabbed D-Patta lands represent only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger scam.”
“In the name of preparing a Master Plan, APCRDA, fully supported by its masters, appears to have cleverly provided a much bigger largesse to Ministers and party persons, who have purchased the lands in advance either in their names or benami.
In fact, every government order issued in the recent times in relation to the APCRDA region appears to be specifically aimed at benefiting one section or the other of the influential persons closely linked to the political executive. There was another illegal order issued recently to “regularise” the encroachments made by several such persons along the floodplains of River Krishna, in violation of the AP Urban Areas Development Authorities Act and well established urban planning and environment norms,” Dr Sarma said in the letter.
Dr Sarma demanded institution of a probe by an independent body headed by a sitting High Court Judge as the magnitude of the land scam in and around Amaravati was mind boggling.
“The senior officers of APCRDA cannot pretend to be unaware of this alleged land scam. It is necessary to get their respective roles in the land scam fully investigated,” he demanded,” he said in the letter.
