IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 19778 of 2008 Between: 1 Madala Srinivasa Rao, s/o. Krishna Rao, R/o. Vellampalli Village, Maddipadu Mandal, Prakasam District. 2 Madala Sivanagaraju, s/o. Krishna Rao, R/o. Vellampalli Village, Maddipadu Mandal, Prakasam District. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Ongole, Prakasam District. 2 The Tahsildar, Maddipadu Mandal, Maddipadu, Prakasam District. 3 The Government of Andrha Pradesh, Rep by its Prl.Secreatry to Government, Revenue Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction more in the nature of writ of Mandamus , declaring the action of the 1st respondent in not considering the appeal and the stay petition, dated 21.01.2008 ﬁled under Section 4A of the A.P.Assigned Lands(Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977 by the petitioners against the orders of the 2nd respondent, dated 26-09-2007 as illegal, arbitrary, violative of Art. 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently to grant stay of all further proceedings pursuant to the Orders in RCB, dated 26- 09-2007 of the 2nd respondent including dispossession of the petitioners from their land admeasuring Ac.0.20 cents situated in Sy.No.13/3 of Vellampalli Village, Maddipadu Mandal, Prakasam District while directing the respondent No.1 to dispose of the appeal, dated 21.01.2008 ﬁled by the petitioners Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.M.SUDHIR KUMAR Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : ORDER: This writ petition is ﬁled by the petitioners questioning the action of the 1st respondent - Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer, Ongole in not considering the appeal and the stay petition dated 21.1.2008 ﬁled by them against the orders of the 2nd respondent dated 26.9.2007 under Section 4-A of the A.P. Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977 (for short ‘the Act’). Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Government Pleader for Revenue and at their request the matter is taken up for disposal at the admission stage itself. It is the case of the petitioners that they have purchased an extent of Ac.0.20 cents of agricultural land situated in Sy.No.13/3 of Vellampalli Village, Maddipadu Mandal, Prakasam District under a registered sale deed dated 27.5.1996 and since then they have been in continuous possession and enjoyment of the said land. It is stated that they were also issued with pattadar pass books in respect of the said land. While so, the 2nd respondent issued the proceedings in RBC 2007 dated 26.9.2008 stating that the possession of the said land would be resumed and restored to the original assignee on the ground that the original assignee has transferred the land in controvention of the provisions of the A.P. Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977. Questioning the said orders, the petitioners ﬁled an appeal before the 1st respondent – Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer on 21.1.2008 along with a stay application. The grievance of the petitioners is that so far no orders are passed by the 1st respondent either in the appeal or on the stay application and on the other hand, the authorities are trying to implement the orders of the Tahsildar dated 26.9.2007 by evicting them from the land. Hence this writ petition. The learned Government Pleader for Revenue submits that since the appeal ﬁled by the petitioners is pending before the 1st respondent, instead of this Court going into the merits of the matter, the authorities may be directed to dispose of the appeal, for which course of action, the learned counsel for the petitioners also agreed. In the circumstances, without going into the merits of the matter, the writ petition is disposed of directing the 1st respondent to pass appropriate orders either in the appeal or on the stay application ﬁled by the petitioners against the orders passed by the Tahsildar on 26.9.2007 expeditiously and till then, status quo obtaining as on date shall be maintained. No costs. N.V.RAMANA,J Dt.11.9.2008 msv ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Ongole, Prakasam District. 2 The Tahsildar, Maddipadu Mandal, Maddipadu, Prakasam District. 3 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Prl.Secreatry to Government, Revenue Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 4 2CCs to GP for Revenue, High Court of A.P. Hyd. 5 2CD copies