Telangana HC: State cannot reopen 1960 land assignment decades later without proving it was assigned land

Court: High Court for the State of Telangana
Date of judgment: 22 September 2026
Case: WA/781/2026
Parties: The State of Telangana Vs Sri Kolan Rukka Reddy
Bench: APARESH KUMAR SINGH, VAKITI RAMAKRISHNA REDDY
Outcome: Dismissed

Summary

The State appealed against a Single Judge's order quashing a 2020 resumption of about 13 acres in Nizampet village, Medchal-Malkajgiri district, under the Telangana Assignment (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977. A Division Bench of the High Court dismissed three connected writ appeals, holding that the State acted far too late and could not show the land was assigned land with a bar on transfers.

What the court held

The Division Bench confirmed the Single Judge's order and dismissed Writ Appeals 781, 840 and 841 of 2026 with no order as to costs. The State could not call the 2020 proceeding an appeal for one purpose and a fresh resumption for another, and in any case power exercised with no time limit must be used within a reasonable time, here about sixty years after the assignment. The State also failed to prove the land was assigned land subject to non-alienation, since the assignment deed was not traceable and an unapproved 1964-65 proposal could not replace it.

Key issues

Could the RDO treat a Tahsildar's letter as an appeal 1,460 days after the Tahsildar's order, when Section 4-A allows 90 days?
Even if it was a fresh resumption, was it made within a reasonable time?
Did the State prove the land was assigned land subject to a non-alienation condition?

Provisions referred to

Telangana Assignment (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977
Section 4-A of the 1977 Act
Article 226 of the Constitution of India

Read the full judgment (PDF) ↗

Official source: High Court for the State of Telangana. The PDF above is a copy from an open dataset of the court's public records.

This summary is prepared for general assistance only. It may contain errors and is not legal advice — rely on the full judgment.

Land Law Assigned Lands Revenue Writ Appeal Limitation

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