The allotment of two acres of prime land at Kokapet in Hyderabad at a nominate rate of Rs 1 per acre to Visakhapatnam Sarada Peetham headed by Swamy Swaroopanandendra Sarsawati got into a legal wrangle.
A social activist Veera Swamy on Tuesday filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Telangana High Court, challenging the decision of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government headed by K Chandrasekhar Rao to allot two acres of prime government land to religious Saradha Peetham in Hyderabad.
The chief minister recently handed over the documents to Swaroopanandendra Swamy giving possession of the land situated in Kokapet village in Gandipet mandal, following a cabinet decision taken in June this year.
It is learnt the land can fetch a base market price of Rs 1.5 crore per acre, but was given to Sarada Peetham at a nominal rate of Re 1 per acre.
Veera Swamy pointed out that the land was classified as 'Poramboku' and the state government was its custodian.
The petitioner argued that the government had no right to simply give away the land, which belonged to the public. He also pointed out that the beneficiary was a private citizen.
“If the government wants it for religious purposes, it could have allotted it to TTD or to the Yadagiri Laxminarasimha Swamy temple or to any such other temple owned and controlled by the state government,” the petitioner said.
The case is expected to come up for hearing on September 25.
KCR had faced flak from all quarters for his move to allocate government land to a private religious institution, purely based on his personal religious beliefs.
Swami Swaroopanandendra Saraswati thus enjoys the patronage of the CMs of both Telugu states as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is also known to visit the seer frequently, in Visakhapatnam.