Minister Orders Aug 14 Deadline to Resolve Prohibited Property Claims in Hyderabad

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy directed revenue officials in Hyderabad on Tuesday to upload all land-related documents by August 14 and resolve genuine prohibited property applications on a war footing. Addressing a review meeting in the city, the minister stated that the Congress government is taking steps to clean up the prohibited properties (POB)/22A category system and promised that legally eligible property owners would not be denied justice.

As part of the new directions, Srinivas Reddy instructed Sub-Registrars to make decisions on property registrations based on verified online records rather than exercising discretionary powers. He specified that officials must provide clear reasons if a registration is rejected, instead of mechanically turning down transactions. Officials were instructed to upload all government orders, proceedings, layout approvals, and other documents related to land regularisation by the August 14 deadline.

Property owners across the state have been facing uncertainty due to issues stemming from portal integration. Previously, agricultural, non-agricultural, and prohibited property lists were maintained separately on the Dharani portal. Following the integration of these records under the new Bhu Bharati portal, property owners complained that their land was unexpectedly appearing in the prohibited list during scrutiny by Sub-Registrars, causing property registrations to stop completely.

In response to these complaints, the minister directed officials to cross-check such cases against the updated information being uploaded before taking any final decisions on registrations. Srinivas Reddy emphasized that government land would remain protected and action would be taken against any wrongdoing, while technical and legal complications inherited from the previous administration would be systematically resolved.

However, the review meeting did not yield clear blanket instructions for properties that were recently added to the prohibited list despite possessing valid permissions from municipal and regulatory authorities. For properties holding necessary approvals from agencies including the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Srinivas Reddy directed that POB applications must be sent directly to District Collectors for case-by-case review.