Hyderabad : The Telangana high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a group of landholders seeking ownership rights over 42 acres of disputed agricultural land and the Sri Ramalingeswara Swamy temple located on it in Chinaravalpalle village of Bibinagar mandal in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, holding that questions relating to land title must be adjudicated by a competent civil court.
The petitioners had challenged a June 29, 2021, order of the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri special tribunal, which declined to alter revenue records in their favour. The court noted that the petitioners approached the high court only in 2023, nearly two years after the tribunal’s order was passed.
Finding no satisfactory explanation for the delay, Justice Mohiuddin observed, “The principle of delay and laches weighed heavily against exercising discretionary writ jurisdiction, particularly since high court had previously declined to stay temple lease auctions on the same property in earlier litigation.”
Refusing to interfere with the special tribunal’s order, the high court held that the dispute involved complex and competing questions of title that could not be conclusively determined in writ proceedings based on affidavits and departmental reports. The parties were left to pursue their claims before an appropriate civil court.