SC directs Telangana to complete Section 15 process for Gurramguda reserve forest
HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court has directed the Telangana government to complete the pending proposals under Section 15 of the Telangana Forest Act for including the disputed Gurramguda land as reserve forest within eight weeks and to file a compliance status report before the court registry.
The apex court set aside earlier orders of the high court and lower courts, upholding the state government’s stand that the 102-acre land parcel at Sahebnagar Kalan village in Gurramguda, abutting Vanasthalipuram, is reserve forest and belongs to the government. Forest officials estimate the land value at over ₹4,000 crore.
The court ruled that belated and time-barred private claims over notified forest land are not legally sustainable and reiterated that forests are national assets, underscoring the constitutional duty of the state to protect and conserve them.
Background of the dispute
The dispute traces its origins to claims made through Salar Jung III, Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, the former prime minister of Hyderabad. Salar Jung III was a one-year-old minor when his father died and is said to have inherited the land by succession. His estate was taken over by the Nizam’s government through the Court of Wards and was claimed to have been returned to him after he attained majority.
On November 30, 2005, Mir Jafar Ali Khan, claiming succession through Salar Jung III, filed a petition before the forest settlement officer seeking exclusion of the land from the proposed reserve forest notification.
Contradictory orders, long litigation
The forest settlement officer initially rejected the claim on September 3, 2010, holding that the land was government property. However, on appeal, the IX additional district judge, Rangareddy district, on March 14, 2012, set aside the order and remanded the matter for fresh inquiry.
On remand, the forest settlement officer, on October 15, 2014, accepted the claim, treating the land as Arazi-Makta of Salar Jung III, and asked the divisional forest officer to exclude it from notifications issued under Sections 4 and 6 of the Telangana Forest Act. A revised map for Turkayamjal and Gurramguda villages was also sought for final proposals under Section 15.
Aggrieved by this exclusion, the forest department appealed before the principal district judge, Rangareddy district, at LB Nagar. The appeal was dismissed in 2016. The state then moved the high court in revision, but the high court upheld the district court’s order.
Following this, the Telangana government, represented by the forest department, approached the Supreme Court, which has now overturned all earlier orders and restored the land’s status as reserve forest.
Final declaration ordered
In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that proposals for final notification under Section 15 of the Telangana Forest Act had been validly initiated and that earlier decisions warranting exclusion were unsustainable. It directed the forest department to proceed with the final declaration process within the stipulated eight-week period.
