Hyderabad, Sept. 5 -- A negotiated land sale does not erase a landowner's right to separate rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) benefits, the Telangana High Court has ruled, setting aside the state's claim that accepting compensation and signing a registered sale deed closes off further entitlement.

The order came from Justice Vakiti Ramakrishna Reddy, who allowed four writ petitions filed by landowners from Thoguta and Rampur villages in Thoguta mandal whose farmland was taken over for the Komuravelli Mallannasagar reservoir.

The judge directed authorities to examine the petitioners' R&R claims independently of the compensation already disbursed, and said each petitioner's eligibility must be decided by the competent authority only a...