Telangana HC dismisses PIL challenging land allotment to director Shankar

Hyderabad, July 7: The Telangana High Court on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging allotment of land by the state government to well-known film director N. Shankar near Hyderabad for setting up a film studio.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, which had completed the hearing on July 5, pronounced its orders on Friday, ruling that the court can’t interfere with the allotment.

The state government had allotted 5 acres of land to the director at Mokila village in Rangareddy district near Hyderabad in 2019 for setting up a film studio.

The land allotment to the director was challenged through a PIL in 2020 by Jaishankar of Jagtial district. The petitioner had questioned the allotment of land worth around Rs 5 crore per acre to the director for Rs 5 lakh per acre and prayed to the court to set aside the allotment.

The court observed that the government should have a clear policy on land allotments but in the absence of the same, it can’t fault the allotment made to the director.

It also took into consideration the argument of the director’s counsel that he paid Rs 25 lakh for the land and spent Rs 1.25 crore on land development.

The state government had defended the allotment saying it is in tune with the government policy. It submitted to the court allotting land to film studios and film personalities at lower costs is nothing new.

The court was told that the decision to allot the land was taken only after examining the genuineness of the applicant, the need for setting up a film studio near Hyderabad and the recommendation by the State Film Development Corporation.

Municipal Administration Secretary Arvind Kumar, through a counter-affidavit, had informed the court that the land was allotted after Shankar deposited Rs 5 crore with a promise to bring in Rs 50 crore investment to build a modern studio that offers complete facilities for making full-fledged movies and also advertisements that portray the journey of the new state.

The director also promised to the government that the studio will employ 1,000 cine workers on a daily basis, provide direct employment to 100 persons and indirect employment to 200 persons.

The court was also told that Shankar is a well-known director from the state with 36 years of experience in the film industry. Shankar had also submitted to the court that he had not used his popularity or his local origins to get the land from the Telangana government. He claimed that the then undivided Andhra Pradesh government had agreed to give him the land in 2012, but it did not materialise.