Dr Reddy’s claims Satyam land purchase was legal

HYDERABAD - Leading pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has denied that the land it got on the outskirts of Hyderabad after acquiring Satyam Institute of E-business Ltd was assigned land or the state land meant for poor.

The denial came amid allegations that former chairman of Satyam Computer Services B. Ramalinga Raju acquired vast tracts of assigned land over last few years and illegally sold them to others including Dr Reddy’s.

While admitting that the company received a notice from revenue authorities about 134 acres in Bahadurpally village, Dr Reddy’s claimed that the land was purchased by Satyam Institute from original ‘pattadars’ or title holders, who were former jewellers to the Nizams, the rulers of erstwhile Hyderabad State.

The family of jewellers got the land in 1942 and has been in continuous possession right up to the sale to the company (Satyam Institute) in 2000, said a statement by Dr Reddy’s.

‘There was no restriction on the transfer of the land and there was no illegality in its purchase by Satyam Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sify Ltd, which is a Nasdaq listed company,’ it said.

Sify is itself a subsidiary of Satyam Computer Services.

Dr Reddy’s said it came into the possession of the land when it acquired Satyam Institute in 2003 and the name of the firm was changed to Dr Reddy’s Biosciences Ltd. The change of name was incorporated in the revenue records Sept 10, 2004.

The revenue authorities Jan 13, 2009 issued notice to the pharma company claiming that the land at Bahadurpally village was assigned land, the transfer of which is prohibited under the Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Rules 1977.

The notice was issued amid the probe into the land purchased by Raju and his family members in and around Hyderabad during last few years.

The revenue authorities were also trying to find out if Satyam Technology Centre, the global headquarters of Satyam in Bahadurpally, was standing on assigned land.