Archive · 14 Sep 2026
Telangana Section 22-A Land List Sparks Political Blame Game
Section 22-A is a rule that can stop certain properties from being registered.
It is meant to protect public land and community properties.
In Telangana, some private owners and farmers say their land was wrongly put on the prohibited list.
The Congress government says it did not add any new land and actually removed 47,440 acres from the list.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party blame the government for causing hardship.
When land is listed, owners may struggle to sell, gift or mortgage it.
The article says the problem was built up by decisions made by several governments.
It also says politicians, middlemen and officials have been accused of helping transactions involving prohibited properties.
The rule began in 1999, was struck down in 2005 and was brought back in a narrower form in 2007.
The Congress government and opposition parties are trading blame over private properties and farmers’ lands placed on Telangana’s Section 22-A prohibited list.
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy says the list was reduced by 47,440 acres after Congress took office and that no new land was added.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party allege that the Congress government’s handling of the list has harmed property owners.
Owners listed under Section 22-A can face difficulty selling, gifting, mortgaging or otherwise transferring their properties.
The provision was introduced in 1999, struck down in 2005, and re-enacted in 2007 with specific categories of prohibited land.
- Who
- Private property owners, farmers, the Telangana Congress government, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party and officials are involved in the dispute.
- What
- A political controversy concerns allegedly wrongful inclusion of private properties and farmers’ lands on the Section 22-A prohibited list.
- When
- The current controversy is ongoing; Section 22-A was introduced in September 1999, struck down in December 2005 and re-enacted with retrospective effect from June 19, 2007.
- Where
- Telangana, including Hyderabad.
- Why
- Section 22-A was intended to prevent registration of specified public, institutional and otherwise restricted properties, but disputed classifications and administrative errors have affected genuine owners.
Congress Government’s Position
Opposition Parties’ Allegations
Responsibility for the current list
Congress Government’s Position
The Congress government says it did not add even one new acre and only uploaded data inherited from the previous administration.
Opposition Parties’ Allegations
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party accuse the Congress government of keeping or moving large areas of private land into the prohibited list.
Change in restricted land
Congress Government’s Position
Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy says corrections to erroneous classifications reduced the list by 47,440 acres.
Opposition Parties’ Allegations
Opposition parties say people continue to suffer because private properties and farmers’ lands remain restricted under Section 22-A.
Who is responsible for the broader problem
Congress Government’s Position
The Congress position emphasizes inherited records and mistakes made under earlier administrations.
Opposition Parties’ Allegations
The article’s broader account indicates that successive governments, along with alleged involvement by politicians, middlemen and officials, contributed to the complicated legacy.
- Provision
- Section 22-A of the Registration Act 1908
- Congress government claim
- The prohibited list was reduced by 47,440 acres after Congress assumed office.
- Land addition claim
- Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy says no new land was added to the list by the Congress government.
- Original introduction
- Introduced in undivided Andhra Pradesh through the Registration (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Act, 1999, effective in September 1999.
- 2005 legal development
- The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the original provision in December 2005 as unconstitutional.
- 2007 re-enactment
- Re-enacted through Andhra Pradesh Amendment Act No. 19 of 2007, with retrospective effect from June 19, 2007.
- Affected transactions
- Owners may face difficulty selling, gifting, mortgaging or otherwise transferring listed properties.