High Court reserves order on refund to bidders

A division bench of the High Court, comprising acting chief justice PC Ghose and justice Vilas V Afzulpurkar, on Friday reserved its orders on an appeal by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) challenging an order of a single judge directing it to refund the money of the successful bidders of its prestigious Golden Mile layout project at Kokapet near the city.

 The HMDA, erstwhile HUDA, had auctioned 70 acres of land at Kokapet village in Rajendranagar mandal in Ranga Reddy district in July 2006.

 The auction had fetched the HUDA Rs 703 crore, including a bid of Rs 14.

5 crore per acre for a 5-acre plot.

 The bidders had paid the HUDA (Hyderabad Urban Development Authority) Rs 435 crore upfront.

 Reputed names like Madhucon Properties, Pioneer Telafone Limited of the Viceroy group, Prestige Gardens estate group from Bengaluru, Today from Delhi, My Home Constructions Private Limited from Hyderabad, Lake Point Builders from Mumbai, IBC Knowledge Park from Bengaluru and Kailash Ganga Constructions were among the successful bidders.

 However, the bidders approached the court as there was delay in the hand over of the property to them and contended that the authorities did not inform them that the land was disputed and there were writ petitions pending with regard to the land.

 KSB Ali and others, who claim to be legal heirs to Nawab-Nusrat Jung-1, have been fighting for the lands for several years.

 In April 2010, a single judge directed the HMDA to refund the deposits to the petitioners within three months.

 If it failed to repay, it should pay 9 per cent interest per annum from the date of deposit and till date of payment.

 Aggrieved by the order the HMDA moved an appeal.

 Advocate-general A Sudarshan Reddy contended that the petitions were filed in respect of the land at a subsequent stage and the information was passed on to the petitioners at the time of auction.

 The petitioners, who participated in the auction, were fully aware of the pending litigation and they were deemed to have waived off the objections, if any, in this regard.