Hyderabad, April 24: The bankrupt Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is in no mood to return the Rs. 435 crore it collected from the Kokapet despite a High Court directive that it do so. Instead it will contest the directive before a full bench of the court, according to HMDA Metropolitan Commissioner B P Acharya.
HMDA’s ownership of the prized land — and therefore its right to sell it — is being challenged by one K S B Ali in the court. While the arguments are being heard by the court, HMDA has decided to hang on to the monies it received after a high-profile auction it held for the land in 2006 until the matter is resolved in the court. ‘‘We are hoping for a favourable order from the High Court. Once the direction is issued, we will hand over the land to successful bidders,’’ an official said.
Yesterday, the High Court, hearing petitions filed by the successful bidders, directed the HMDA to return the amount. The petitioners said they came to know of the ownership litigation only after they had deposited the mandated money with HMDA. But HMDA failed to hand over the land to them in time, and they now want their money back. The land in question was among 15 prime plots (75 acres in Survey Nos.
100, 109 and 147) in Kokapet village, Rajendranagar mandal auctioned by HMDA, then known as the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
It was then boom time for real estate and HUDA set a whopping upset price of Rs 4.50 crore per acre. The EMD alone was Rs 2 crore. More than 20 bidders participated in the open auction.
The auction bagged a mind-boggling Rs 703 crore for HUDA. The successful bidders deposited two-thirds of the amount, Rs 435 crore and the balance was to be paid upon site hand over.
Successful bidders included Watermark Estates Pvt Ltd (Rs 60 crore), Madhucon Properties Ltd (Rs 51.6 crore), Lake Point Builders Pvt Ltd (Rs 42.72 crore), Today Hotels Pvt Ltd (Rs 62.25 crore), Prestige Gardens Estates Pvt Ltd (Rs 82.98 crore), IBC Knowledge Park (Rs 64.26 crore), Kailash Ganga Constructions Pvt Ltd (Rs 38.28 crore).
HC snubs govt, stays land allotment in Pharma City
HYDERABAD: In an apparent snub to the state government, Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court on Friday stayed the allotment of land in Paravada Pharma City near Visakhapatnam in favour of Trydax, a company that reportedly has the son of minister Kanna Lakshminarayana on its board.
–Agencies