SC allows Lanco Hills construction

NEWDELHI/HYDERABAD: Infrastructure firm Lanco Infratech Limited on Tuesday got a breather as the Supreme Court stayed the orders of the High Court on April 3 which prohibited the company from continuing construction work at its major township project in Hyderabad. The High Court dismissed the writs of the state government, AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) and the Lanco Hills Limited challenging a notification that 1,654 acres of land at Manikonda near Hyderabad belonged to Dargah Hussain Shah Vali and its Wakf property. It also dismissed a civil revision petition filed by them against an order of the AP Wakf Tribunal in 2011 directing the government, APIIC and other allottees not to alienate or alter or sell those lands. Aggrieved by the order, the state government and Lanco Infratech moved the apex court.The government told the Supreme Court that the land had been allotted to various entities through competitive bidding and assured to adequately compensate the AP Wakf Board if it was finally adjudicated that the land belonged to the Wakf Board.A bench comprising justices KS Panicker Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra took note of the assurance given by the state government that it would adequately compensate the Wakf Board if the final decision went in board’s favour.While granting interim stay on the High Court’s as well as the AP Wakf Tribunal’s orders, the apex court allowed Lanco to proceed with its construction activities and posted the case to the second week of August.Reacting to the interim relief, Lanco Infratech chairman L Madhusudana Rao said, “We are pleased to hear the judgment. This order coming from the apex court has removed all hurdles in Lanco Hills development.”The Lanco had obtained around 100 acres of land through bidding by the AP government at ` 4.27 crore per acre for its ` 5,000 crore township project. The state government had also allotted lands to Microsoft, Infosys, Polaris, Indian School of Business, Wipro, Emaar and others at Manikonda village.After two years of these allotments several individuals, political entities challenged the action of the government in allotting the Wakf lands to various corporate companies.The Wakf Board approached the Wakf Tribunal to restrain Lanco from selling the property to third parties in the township project and obtained an injunction.