HYDRAA chief gets a stay, not a clean chit
The Telangana High Court has temporarily suspended the direction to replace A.V. Ranganath. The Lothukunta land dispute remains alive.
The High Court’s temporary relief keeps the replacement direction on hold while the Lothukunta dispute continues.
HYDRAA Commissioner A.V. Ranganath will remain in the post for now after a Telangana High Court Division Bench temporarily suspended a Single Judge’s July 27 direction to relieve him and appoint a replacement. The appeal arose from contempt proceedings linked to a land dispute at Lothukunta. The matter is listed for November 3, 2026, according to reports on the order.
The underlying dispute concerns about 40 acres in Survey Nos. 1 and 2 of Lothukunta claimed by Shanta Sriram Constructions Private Limited. In a June 10 order, the Single Judge said HYDRAA had no reason to enter private property and described its action as “illegal, cannot be sustained”. HYDRAA’s counsel argued that Ranganath acted on official requisitions, government records and geo-coordinates identifying government land as GLR 243, and that any mistake was factual rather than wilful disobedience.
The court’s temporary relief is just that: temporary. It does not decide ownership, settle the contempt proceedings or erase the earlier criticism of HYDRAA’s conduct. The state government has received breathing space; the land dispute has not received a disappearing act.