Relief for Babu as AP High Court Quashes Amaravati Assigned Lands Case
Vijayawada, July 16: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana received major legal relief after the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the Crime Investigation Department case relating to alleged irregularities in the transfer of assigned lands in the Amaravati capital region.
Justice Y. Lakshmana Rao delivered the judgment on Wednesday after reserving the verdict following the completion of hearings in April. The case had been registered against Naidu, Narayana and several others based on a complaint filed by former Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy.
Court Finds No Prima Facie Evidence
According to reports on the judgment, the High Court held that the Amaravati Land Pooling Scheme was a policy decision taken by the state government and implemented under an approved legal and administrative framework.
The court reportedly observed that the land pooling process had followed the prescribed procedures and involved the participation of farmers. It found that the CID had not placed sufficient prima facie material on record to establish allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating or coercion against Naidu and Narayana.
The court consequently allowed the petitions filed by the two leaders and quashed the criminal proceedings against them.
The ruling is a significant development in one of the most politically sensitive cases connected with the selection and development of Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
What Was the Case About?
The CID registered the case following allegations that assigned-land holders in villages falling within the Amaravati capital region had been pressured or misled into transferring their lands at low prices during the Telugu Desam Party government between 2014 and 2019.
The prosecution alleged that farmers were made to believe that the government would take back their assigned lands without extending benefits under the Land Pooling Scheme. It was also alleged that political leaders and their associates acquired some of those lands through intermediaries or benami transactions before compensation and land-pooling benefits were announced.
Investigators had claimed that around 1,100 acres of assigned land, estimated to be worth approximately ₹4,400 crore, were involved in the alleged transactions. The CID later filed a charge sheet naming Naidu, Narayana and others as accused under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands law.
Naidu and Narayana Denied Allegations
Naidu and Narayana consistently denied wrongdoing. Their legal teams argued that the government had taken a policy decision to provide compensation and land-pooling benefits to eligible assigned-land holders.
They contended that an administrative or policy decision could not automatically be treated as a criminal offence. They also argued that the allegations were unsupported by evidence and that the case had been initiated as an act of political vendetta during the previous YSR Congress Party government.
The High Court had earlier stayed further proceedings in the case while hearing the petitions seeking its dismissal. After examining the arguments and material submitted by both sides, the court ruled in favour of Naidu and Narayana.
Political Significance of the Verdict
The judgment is expected to have considerable political significance in Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati has remained one of the central points of conflict between the TDP and the YSR Congress Party for several years.
The TDP government led by Naidu selected the Amaravati region for the construction of a new capital after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of farmers contributed land under the Land Pooling Scheme in return for developed plots, annual payments and other benefits.
After the YSRCP came to power in 2019, its government proposed a decentralised capital model and initiated investigations into several decisions taken during the previous TDP administration. The assigned lands case became one of the most prominent investigations arising from that period.
Following the return of the TDP-led alliance to power in 2024, the state government resumed its efforts to develop Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh's capital.
The High Court's decision removes a major legal challenge involving the Chief Minister and the Municipal Administration Minister at a time when the government is accelerating capital construction and infrastructure projects in the Amaravati region.
Legal Closure to a Long-Running Dispute
The verdict brings an important stage of the long-running assigned lands case to a close, at least with respect to the proceedings challenged by Naidu and Narayana.
The judgment does not merely offer political relief to the two leaders. It also reinforces the legal distinction between a government policy decision and a criminal act, with the court reportedly concluding that the investigative agency had failed to establish the essential elements required to continue the prosecution.
Further political reactions from the ruling TDP, opposition YSRCP and Amaravati farmer groups are expected as the implications of the judgment are examined in greater detail.
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