The Supreme Court of India has upheld a Telangana High Court ruling that cancelled the free allotment of 3.7 acres of government land in Raidurg, Hyderabad, to the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC). The apex court refused to interfere with the High Court’s decision, thereby confirming that the land grant violated statutory rules.
The case relates to a government order issued in December 2021 by the previous Telangana government, which allotted the land in Raidurg village of Serilingampally mandal, Ranga Reddy district, to IAMC along with financial assistance of ₹3 crore. The land was given without charging market value.
Public interest litigations were later filed challenging the allotment. In June 2025, the Telangana High Court struck down the decision, stating that the government had failed to follow mandatory procedures under the Telangana Land Revenue Act and land alienation rules. The court held that government land cannot be allotted free of cost without proper assessment of its value and without following legal safeguards meant to protect public property.
The High Court also observed that IAMC was not registered as a company at the time the land was allotted. This made the allotment legally invalid. The court further noted that public land cannot be transferred casually and must only be done in strict accordance with law.
IAMC challenged the High Court’s order in the Supreme Court. However, a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SVN Bhatti dismissed the petitions, saying it was not inclined to interfere with the High Court judgment.
With the Supreme Court’s ruling, the cancellation of the land allotment stands confirmed. The 3.7 acres of land will now remain with the state government, and the earlier financial assistance granted to IAMC also stands nullified.
The judgment reinforces that government land cannot be distributed without following legal procedures and underlines the importance of transparency and accountability in public land allotments.
