The Supreme Court’s intervention in HCU Lands, a blow to Revanth Reddy

The ongoing controversy and protest against the Telangana government’s attempts to sell off lands to Kancha Gachibowli took a dramatic turn when the Supreme Court of India intervened and took serious note of the felling of trees on hundreds of acres. The Supreme Court ordered the stay and put a brake on the damage to the green cover.

Students of the university, who had been protesting against the deforestation of the area, broke into celebrations after the apex court stepped in.

What did the Supreme Court say?

The Supreme Court ordered the halting of all activities and directed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to inspect the site and submit a report by April 16.

The bench, comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih, warned that the Telangana Chief Secretary would be held personally responsible for any non-compliance.

What’s next?

While the court has not gone deeply into whether the lands belong to the state government or the university, the proceedings to get completed will take longer than expected. So, the government cannot take any action of selling them off at this moment. It is only a stay order, not a judgment.

The state government had already constituted a committee comprising three ministers to go forward. The committee will hold talks with students, the university body, and social and environmental activists. The Telangana government says that the lands belonging to the state are never part of the university.

A blow to Revanth Reddy

The Supreme Court’s intervention and the comments made by the judges have come as a shock to the state government and the CM. We have to wait for the final judgment, but for now Revanth Reddy has landed in an embarrassing situation politically. He cannot go aggressively on this issue as he did before. Some of his comments aggravated the situation. The political rhetoric won’t sit well with the court.