Activist contests appointment of RERA chairperson and members, seeks their dismissal

Lubna Sarwath calls for dismissal of Telangana RERA Chairman and members due to fraudulent appointments, demands proper investigation.

Congress party member and activist Lubna Sarwath has addressed a letter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy seeking the dismissal of Telangana Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s Chairman and members, on the grounds of ‘fraudulent appointment’. Their appointments by the previous BRS government were not made in accordance with the provisions of RERA Act, she contended.

Chairperson of the authority is N. Satyanarayana, and members Laxminarayana Jannu and K. Srinivasa Rao are ineligible as per the Section 22 of the RERA Act, 2016, as no due procedure has been followed by the selection committee in their appointment, she said, and called for recovery of their salaries from June 2023 onwards.

As per the Section 22, a person who is or has been in the State government service is not eligible for the post of chairperson unless such person had held the post of additional secretary to the central government or any equivalent post in the Central or State governments. The present chairperson did not fulfil the criterion, she said.

The section also stipulates that a person who is or has been in the service of State government may not be appointed as a member unless such person has held the post of Secretary to the State government or any equivalent post in the State or Central government. However, the present members do not meet the requirements, she said.

N. Satyanarayana had been the Director of Municipal Administration when he was appointed in June, 2023 while Mr. Laxminarayana had retired as the Additional Commercial Tax Commissioner. Mr. Srinivas Rao had retired as the director of Town Planning.

All the registrations from the previous government should be investigated, and a new team should be appointed through due procedure, she demanded. Ms. Sarwath also contended that the government orders pertaining to formation of selection committee for appointments of the chairperson and members were not available on the public domain, and expressed doubts about whether due procedure was followed in the same.