The 400 acres of contested land are at the heart of a two-decade-old battle over ownership. The Telangana high court's 2022 ruling that there was no deed of conveyance confirming the government's transfer of land to the institution appeared to put an end to the matter.
The initial 2,324 acres of land, including the 400 contested acres, were given to the university in 1975. The institution was the one who launched the lawsuit, asserting legal possession of the area. The institution contended that the government's maps were inaccurate.
The court decided that the government still owned the land in the absence of such a deed. Furthermore, the government's case was strengthened when the university gave up some additional land to the government. Additionally, the Supreme Court last year upheld the 2022 ruling.
But the land's legal troubles didn't stop there. An environmental conservation NGO called Vata Foundation filed a public interest lawsuit in the high court, requesting that the land be designated as a "national park" under Section 35 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and granting it "deemed forest" status.
The Supreme Court's ruling in the Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India case served as the foundation for its argument. Godavarman's dedication to environmental preservation earned him the nickname "Green Man."
The petitioners claimed that the HCU campus was ecologically sensitive and possessed all the characteristics of biodiversity hotspots, as acknowledged by the Supreme Court in the Godavarman case, which led to the awarding of presumed forest status.
The Vata Foundation asked the government to postpone creating a master plan for the site, despite the fact that income records did not identify the contested acreage as forest land.
However, in order to further its goal of economic growth through the establishment of an IT park in the region with foreign investments, the government has called for bids to create a master plan that satisfies "international standards."
According to reports, the government wanted to design a layout and put the plots up for sale to businesses. By the way, the property is located in Gachibowli's nearby financial sector.
After learning about the government's plans for an auction, university students started a social media campaign under the hashtag "oxygen not auction," claiming that the forest had a self-sustaining ecology and was home to protected wildlife species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act.
According to the state government, the proposed project is intended to support the government's aims for the creation of top-notch IT infrastructure, improved connectivity, and the availability of suitable metropolitan areas.
The university administration, however, released a statement disputing the government's assertion, stating that no survey was carried out by revenue authorities in July of last year to demarcate the 400 acres of property that the government had reclaimed from IMG Academies Bharata.
So far, just a preliminary examination of the land's topography has been done. Additionally, the institution refuted TGIIC's claim that it had approved the land demarcation. The statement claimed that no land demarcation had actually been completed and that the university had not been notified of it.
The government had been asked to alienate the university's land.
According to the university's statement, "it will forward the representation of stakeholders to the government to reconsider the points raised and request that it conserve the environment and biodiversity in the area."
According to clause (ix) of statute 13, which consists of six nominees chosen by the President of India in their capacity as university visitors, the university also recommended that it be noted that any transfer of land allotted to it can only take place with the official approval of the executive council.
The university's student union declared that it will keep up its legal and political resistance to the government's "land grabbing."
Numerous police officers were stationed both within and outside the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) campus on Monday, March 31, in response to skirmishes between students and the police over the entry of bulldozers to clear a 400-acre area of forested land.
The altercations occurred prior to the Congress government's alleged plan to put it up for auction to private information technology companies in order to establish an IT park. Both the students and the state's opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have criticised the action.
On Thursday (3rd April 2025), the Supreme Court halted the removal of trees from 400 acres of property in Kancha Gachibowli, which is close to Hyderabad Central University.
In an interim order, the state chief secretary was instructed by the supreme court to make sure that no tree cutting occurs until further directives.
Team Yuva Aaveg-
Adarsh Tiwari
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