Hyderabad: Reacting to the High Court’s decision to set aside the GOs 123 and 124 for land acquisition compensation, the Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao said that they would consider taking up an appeal on the order but added they would first have to go through the judgement copy in detail.

The Telangana government received a jolt earlier today when the High Court set aside the GO 123 and questioned them on the need to bring out new GOs when the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 was already in place to deal with the issue.

It was with the intention to provide a better deal to the farmers, the displaced and the poor that the GO 123 was given, said the Irrigation Minister. Stating that the GO was based on the convention followed by the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, the minister expressed confidence on their appeal on the court’s decision.

As per the GO 123, the government had decided to pay the farm land owners at the rate of Rs 2.10 lakh per acre. Off the 275 land owners over a 100 of them had already taken the compensation cheques from the government. Those who did not accept the government award approached the Courts.

After arguments and deliberations the High Court ordered that the government pay the land owners as per the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 at the rate of Rs 4.95 lakh per acre.

With the Court more than doubling the award, even those owners who had previously accepted the government’s cheques have decided to approach the court for a higher remuneration.