Supreme Court Upholds Forest Department Ownership Over 600 Acres in Bhadradri Kothagudem Land Dispute

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Forest Department’s claim over around 600 acres of disputed land in Bhadradri Kothagudem district and dismissed the appeal filed by petitioners claiming ownership rights.

The case relates to land situated in Survey No. 81 of Kalvala Nagaram village in Karakagudem mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

According to the case details, the government had proposed inclusion of the land into Reserved Forest through a Gazette notification dated February 6, 1950.

Petitioners Claimed Nizam-Era Ownership Rights

The petitioners claimed that the land had been granted to them during the Nizam period between 1931–33 Fasli and sought exemption of the land from forest limits.

However, they failed to produce valid ownership documents before authorities.

As a result, the then Khammam Joint Collector, through an order dated May 19, 2003, rejected the petitioners’ claim after observing that the land was officially recorded as “forest” in government records.

Telangana High Court Division Bench Upheld Government Stand

The dispute later reached the Telangana High Court.

Initially, a Single Judge ruled in favour of the petitioners. However, the judgment was later overturned by a Division Bench of the High Court, which upheld the government’s stand regarding the forest land classification.

The petitioners subsequently approached the Supreme Court challenging the Division Bench ruling.

Supreme Court Says Revenue Records Do Not Prove Ownership

While dismissing the appeal, the Supreme Court observed that revenue records including:

• Faisal Patti
• Wasool Baqi
• Pahanis

do not establish ownership rights and can only indicate possession at best.

The apex court reaffirmed that the disputed land has long been classified as forest land in official records.

The court also observed that declaration of title cannot be granted through a writ petition and criticised the earlier ruling delivered by the Single Judge of the High Court.

Supreme Court Upholds Division Bench and Joint Collector Orders

The Supreme Court upheld:

• The Telangana High Court Division Bench judgment
• The order issued by the Khammam Joint Collector dated May 19, 2003

The apex court finally dismissed the civil appeal filed by the petitioners.

The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Forest Department’s ownership claim over around 600 acres of disputed land located in Survey No. 81 of Kalvala Nagaram village in Karakagudem mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district. The court dismissed the petitioners’ appeal after ruling that revenue records such as Faisal Patti, Wasool Baqi, and Pahanis do not establish ownership rights and reaffirmed that the land has long been classified as forest land.

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