Hyderabad: The Telangana high court has ruled in favour of small and marginal farmers whose agricultural lands in Thoguta and Rampur villages of Siddipet district were acquired for the Komuravelli Mallannasagar Reservoir project under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.
214 deliberately separated land compensation from R&R benefits, indicating that lump-sum payments were not all-inclusive. The court also clarified that any R&R benefits already extended for residential structures or houses must be adjusted to prevent duplicate compensation. Rejecting the state’s arguments, the high court observed that GO No. It held that undertakings cannot operate as estoppel or waiver against statutory entitlements, particularly as displaced farmers lacked equal bargaining power. The court also held that completion of the project or pendency of broader policy challenges before a division bench cannot extinguish the state’s obligation to provide R&R benefits. It issued the directions while disposing of a batch of petitions.