Government silent on Padmalaya Studios land, says forum

HYDERABAD: The Padmalaya Studios land row, which has been hanging fire for over a decade, is in the spotlight again with the Forum for Good Governance (FGG), which comprises former judges and All India Service (AIS) officials, alleging that the Telangana revenue department has refused to give it the Action Taken Report (ATR). The FGG filed a plea under the Right to Information Act, seeking details regarding Padmalaya Studios land allotment cancellation and ACB probe.Retired high court judge Justice Reddappa Reddy and retired IFS official M Padmanabha Reddy of the FGG had written to chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao asking for an Anti-Corruption Bureau probe and also demanding that the land worth crores of rupees be taken back. The land was allotted to Padmalaya Studios, owned by film actor G Krishna and family. The RTI application seeking ATR was filed in August 2017, but they haven't received any reply .Padmanabha Reddy told TOI, “In 1983 government allotted 9.5 acres of land at the rate of Rs 8,500 per acre, to Padmalaya Studios to build a studio complex. As per the basic value fixed by the then sub-registrar, the land cost was around Rs 19.37 lakh. The land was then allotted for a specific purpose and not for real estate or commercial exploitation. In 1988 transfer deed was executed.“He further added, “Out of 9.5 acres allotted to the studio, the allottee sold 5.53 acres to Zee Tele Films at the rate of Rs 3 crore per acre. The land allotment was subject to certain conditions. Since the studio authorities have violated the conditions and sold part of the land and made a huge gain, the district collector issued proceedings to resume the land.“The allottee filed an appeal with the commissioner of appeals, which had set aside the collector's orders, stating that no prior notice was issued to the studio owner and government alone was competent to pass an order for cancellation of allotment.“The order of commissioner of appeals was challenged by TRS leader T Harish Rao in 2008 through a writ petition. In the counter, the government stated that no conditions were imposed while allotting land to the studio, which however is not true. Based on this, the petition was dismissed. However Hyderabad collector requested the then state government to set aside the order of the com missioner of appeals and cancel the allotment in public interest."Later in 2014, the issue was placed before the AP Land Management Committee, which examined the whole issue and recommended resuming of the land for violation of conditions. “However, no concrete action was taken by government and the matter is pending. The then chief secretary Dr Rajeev Sharma sent a detailed report in 2015 in which he recommended proper action against Padmalaya Studios as per law as they utilised the land for purposes other than it was allotted for. The matter has been pending with revenue department since then," said Padmanabha Reddy.The Forum For Good Governance had filed a plea with the CM's office on 11 August, 2016, seeking an ACB probe into the controversial orders of commissioner of appeals, the role of revenue department who filed a counter in court stating that no conditions were imposed while allotting land to the studio.He added, “in August 2017 we filed an RTI application for which there was no reply from revenue department. As the state information commissioners were not appointed till recently, hearing on our appeal didn't happen so far."