To whom does the
Secunderabad
cantonment land belong?
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
Interesting
information recorded on 10th October 1926, by Sir William Barton, a
former Resident in Hyderabad, about Secunderabad cantonment land, is available
in India Office Library, London. It is evident from the report that, Government
of India did not acquire any land from state Government or erstwhile Hyderabad
Nizam Government for establishing Secunderabad Cantonment. The inference could
be that the defense establishment at Secunderabad is in occupation of about
13000 (58 % of the 40.17 square kilometers) acres of state and private lands
without a valid ownership right. Barton report emphasizes that there was no
transfer of ownership of any part of the land to British Government by the
Nizam.
There is no land in
Secunderabad which absolutely belongs to the Government of India and the
Military authorities are entitled to exercise control only over so much of the
land within the outer boundary line as has been actually assigned for Military
purposes. Land actually in military occupation like barracks and parade grounds
were handed over only for Military purposes and it reverts to the Nizam’s
Government when no longer required by the military authorities. The title to
the land would, on relinquishment, revert to the Nizam’s Government.
Secunderabad,
the twin city of Hyderabad is named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the
Asaf Jahi dynasty. The city was formed in 1806, after the order was signed by
the Nizam allotting the land north of Hussein Sagar to set up the British
Cantonment. It was founded as a British cantonment after the Nizam Asaf Jah II
was defeated at the hands of the British East India Company and was forced to
sign the Treaty of Subsidiary Alliance in the year 1798. Subsequently, various
new markets such as Regimental Bazaar and General Bazaar were created.
Secunderabad Railway Station one of the largest in India was established in
1874. The King Edward Memorial Hospital, now known as Gandhi Hospital was established
in 1851. Residency House, now known as the Rashtrapati Nilayam, the official
retreat of the President of India was constructed in 1860. Being one of the
largest cantonments in India, Secunderabad has a large presence of army and air
force personnel. Area around Secunderabad changed hands between various rulers
and by the 18th century, the area was part of Nizam's Hyderabad.
Residency House
Noted author and a former bureaucrat
in his book “Lashkar”(meaning army camp) commented
that British cantonments across India evolved as enduring symbols of the
imperial power. The very location of these cantonments, some of which were
virtually mini-fortresses, was often cited as a reflection of social separation
of the British from the natives. Secunderabad Cantonment has been no different
according to Narendra Luther. Even after independence the same style is
continued. In course of time, the camp expanded to emerge as the first
cantonment to provide a settled home for the British army in the South. The
houses built for officers, Luther recounts, were typified by the one called
“The Retreat”, in which Winston Churchill stayed as second lieutenant in 1896.
The house is still in intact and accommodates a colonel.
Secunderabad Municipality was first formed in 1945. By the Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation Act 1955, Secunderabad Municipal Corporation was merged
with Hyderabad Corporation to form a single Municipal Corporation in the year 1960.
Today Secunderabad is part of the Hyderabad district. The Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation (GHMC) established in 2007 is responsible for the
administration and infrastructure of Secunderabad. Post-Independence, the
Secunderabad Cantonment Board came under the jurisdiction of the Indian Armed
forces. Today large parts of Secunderabad and some parts of Hyderabad, where defense
installations are located come under the purview of Secunderabad Cantonment
Board (SCB). The infrastructure management and civic administration in the
cantonment are handled by the SCB, which comes under the purview of the union
Defense Ministry.
All saints Church, Trimalghery
Consequent
to the treaty of 1768 the British Government undertook to provide Nizam with
two battalions and Sepoys. Later a Resident was appointed at Hyderabad and year
after year the battalions were increased which reached to eight and by 1806
British Government resolved to station the troops at Hyderabad. During the year
1903 the Bolaram cantonment was abolished and merged with the Cantonment of
Secunderabad and the land held by it was occupied by the Military authorities
free of cost. There was no assignment of land by the Nizam to the Military
authorities. The large area of land had been given to British Army at different
times for the use of the Military authorities, starting from 1806. However there
was no transfer of ownership of the lands to the Government of India (British
Government) by the Nizam Government. The 13 Mughlai villages namely, Chinna
Thokatta, Pedda Thokatta , Sitharampur, Bowinpally, Balamrai, Kakaguda, Sikh
Village, Alwal, Marredpally, Rasoolpura, Busareddyguda, Bolarum, Trimulgherri,
and Lalapet were also not the military property. There was at no time any
definite assignment of the land and land was taken up as required by the
Military authorities. All this information is available in the report of William
Barton.
Secunderabad in 1800
The
lands were temporarily requisitioned by the British Army from the Nizam
Government to meet the exigencies of Second World War and for six months
thereafter. A resolution of Secunderabad Cantonment Board meeting held on 21st
June 1968, to which all the Defense Authorities and Officers of the Secunderabad
Sub-Area were Signatories, ascertain that the Defense Authorities never owned any land in
Secunderabad Cantonment and that whatever land that was requisitioned
temporarily for military purposes was restored to Nizam’s Government on First
December 1945, as it was no longer required for military purposes. The
resolution further noted that, the Cantonment of Secunderabad, in erstwhile
domain of Nizam cannot be equated with the rest of the Cantonments as the laws
applicable in the Secunderabad Cantonment were the laws prevailing in the
Jagirs and Government of Nizam and not the British Indian laws. Starting from
1806, land was taken by the military authorities from the Nizam’s Government,
as and when needed by them for cantoning of the troops with a condition that
they need to be restored to the Nizam’s Government when no longer required for
military purposes. The case of Secunderabad Town, which formerly formed part of
this cantonment, was restored to the Nizam’s Government.
Cantonment Office
In
Ameer-un-nissa Begum V. Mahboob Begum, the Supreme Court while referring to the
nature of sovereign function exercised by the Nizam of Hyderabad observed that
"prior to integration of Hyderabad State with the Indian Union and the
coming into force of the Indian Constitution, the Nizam of Hyderabad enjoyed
uncontrolled sovereign powers. He was the supreme legislature, the supreme
judiciary and the supreme head of the executive, and there were no
constitutional limitations upon his authority to act in any of these
capacities. The Firmans were expressions of the sovereign will of the Nizam and
they were binding in the same way as any other law; nay, they would override
all other laws which were in conflict with them. So long as a particular Firman
held the field, that alone would govern or regulate the rights of the parties
concerned, though it could be annulled or modified by a later Firman at any
time that the Nizam willed.
After the integration of
Hyderabad in the Indian Union, the land said to have been given for military purposes by
Nizam and later restored to the Nizam Government as it was no longer required
for military purposes, automatically becomes the state government land with
absolute powers. Any part of the land in the cantonment area either in
Secunderabad or in Hyderabad shall belong to Telangana State Government and it
has an absolute right to make use of it as it deems fit. The military
authorities or to that matter the Government of India’s Defense Ministry should
not have any objection for this. End
No comments:
Post a Comment