The court told the government to stop collecting details of family members and Aadhaar card details even for reserving spaces for registering non-agricultural properties.
The Telangana government will decide on Saturday on the filing of an appeal in the Supreme Court against the state Superior Court order that prohibits the collection of confidential user data for the registration of non-agricultural properties. The alternative is for the government to prepare guidelines following the instructions of the Superior Court.
Prime Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will hold a high-level review meeting to define the land and non-farm property registration strategy in light of the orders issued by the Telangana High Court. Meanwhile, the state has suspended slot reservations, New Indian Express reported.
The High Court ordered the government on Thursday to immediately stop collecting personal data from family members and Aadhaar card data, including for reserving spaces for registering non-agricultural properties.
Non-farm property registration resumed on December 16 after a lapse of more than three months following Superior Court orders allowing 100% advance reservation registrations to begin. However, the court had ordered the government not to insist on Aadhaar’s number and other details for the Dharani portal. But, the state continued to insist on the Aadhaar number for the reservation of spaces.
At Saturday’s meeting, the orders approved by the Superior Court will be discussed in depth and a decision will be made accordingly. The Chief Minister will discuss with Department of Revenue officials and law enforcement officers whether to appeal against Superior Court orders or prepare guidelines in accordance with Superior Court directive.
A bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Judge B Vijaysen Reddy made it clear that the state government cannot adopt surreptitious means to collect such details through the Dharani portal or even through the old registration method.
The court approved interim orders on a batch of PILs filed in Dharani. The petitioners questioned the methods that the government had adopted to collect personal data without guaranteeing people’s safety.
The CM had formed a four-member cabinet subcommittee to suggest ways to address various issues in the registration process and simplify the system. The registration of agricultural and non-agricultural land was stopped on September 8 to facilitate the transition to the online process following the enactment of the New Revenue Law.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and a senior official from the revenue department will participate in the review meeting. He also indicated that the copy of the Superior Court orders has not yet reached the state government.
.
