Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao on Friday, September 11, sought the resignation of Telangana Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy over issues concerning the 22A land list.
At a BRS presentation on the 22A land list at Telangana Bhavan here, Rao said the state government issued an order on September 11, 2025, seeking a new prohibited land list. The Siddipet MLA accused Reddy of pressuring Collectors to prepare prohibited land lists.
He said the Jangaon Collector prepared a list on November 20, 2025, and sent it to the IG Stamps and Registration.
Ahead of the presentation, those who are affected by the 22A land issues headed to the Telangana Bhavan to seek help from Rao and BRS Working President KT Rama Rao.
For years, Section 22A of the Registration Act was something only government clerks and property lawyers thought about. Since early August this year, it has become the most feared phrase in Hyderabad’s property market.
Thousands of owners in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy have gone to sell a flat or a plot, only to be turned away. Their property, they were told, is on a government list of places that cannot be registered. Sales have stopped, while banks have refused loans against these properties.
Registration is the step where a sale is officially recorded at the sub-registrar’s office. Without it, a buyer cannot get the property in their name.
Section 22A allows the government to keep a list of properties that cannot be registered. If your land is on that list, the officer must refuse. Your ownership papers, however old and however genuine, make no difference at that counter.
The point of the rule is sensible. It exists to stop people from selling land that was never theirs. This includes government land, temple and Waqf land or plots given free to poor families.
The rule came from undivided Andhra Pradesh. A 1999 version gave the government wider powers and was struck down in 2005 as too open-ended. A 2007 law brought it back with fixed categories. For one of them, which is land the government claims an interest in, it must first publish a formal public notice (called a gazette notification) naming the properties.
While the law itself is not in doubt, as the Telangana High Court bench upheld it in 2023, its execution remains heavily contested by property owners who find their legitimate plots blocked from sale.
