HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday refused to accede to a plea by the Andhra Pradesh government which wanted the court to modify the prevailing restraint order in respect of temple land all over AP and Telangana.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Shameem Akther, however, said that it would examine each case on its own merits if the state came out with such applications stating the public purpose for which it was seeking land belonging to a temple.
The bench also refused to take up the case of Simhachalam temple land where a huge extent of its land was encroached upon and permanent houses were constructed by people. When the AP government offered alternative land to the temple in lieu of the encroached area and regularise the structures in favour of existing occupants, the bench told the state’s counsel to file an application for each such requirement.
Quoting the words of Justice Chinnappa Reddy, who described temple lands as land of orphans, the HC bench refused to resort to any blanket permission in respect of such land.