IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY NINTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GODA RAGHURAM WRIT PETITION NO : 14342 of 2009 Between: 1 Puvvada Ravindranath S/o Late P.Narasimha Swamy Gurramvari Street D.No.23-1-196 Gandhi Road Ongole 2 Puvvada Vijaya Saradhi Subba Rao S/o Late P.Narasimha Rao 45-1-150 Kothapatnam Road Ongole 3 Puvvada Venkata Lakshmi Narayana S/o Late P.Narasimha Rao 45-1-150 Kothapatnam Road Ongole ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The District Registrar Vadderapalem,Ongole 2 The Sub Registrar Joint I Office of the District Registrar Vadderapalem Ongole 3 Sri M.Nageswara Rao The Sub Registrar Joint -I Office of the District Registrar Vadderpalem Ongole 4 The Sub Registrar Joint -I Office of the District Registrar Vadderpalem Ongole 5 The District Collector Ongole .....RESPONDENT(S) 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 particularly writ of Mandamus directing the respodents 1to 4 to register the lease deed dated 7-5-2009 executed by us in favour of Sri D.V.Prasad Rao(Ex P-20) holding that the order refusal passed by the Second and 3rd respondents is arbitrary and illegal and motivated Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.N.NARASIMHA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GODA RAGHURAM W.P.No. 14342 of 2009 29-07-2009 Oral Order: The 2nd respondent by an endorsement dated 12-05- 2009 declined to register the lease deed dated 07-05-2009 executed by the petitioners in favour of one D.V. Prasad Rao. The order of refusal passed by the 2nd respondent reads as under: “This is a lease deed affecting property in survey No.74 (presently including in Ongole Municipality) of Mukthinuthalapadu village. As per records available in this office survey number: 74 is sub divided and 74/A2, 74/1B, 74/1C2 are “PORAMBOKU” lands. Since no sub division is noted in the document and simply noted as survey No.74, the property covered in the document is treated as “PORAMBOKU Govt. Land” therefore, I refuse registration of the document unde Sec.5 of A.P. Asigned Lands Act, 1977” A total extent of Ac.02-034 cents in survey No.74 of Mukthinuthalapadu Gram Panchayat within Ongole Municipality is claimed to be the property of the petitioners since their ancestors under Patta No.29. Intending to enter into a lease with one D.V. Prasad Rao for establishing a milk vending business, the petitioners executed a lease deed on 07-05-2009 and presented the same to the 4th respondent for registration. The petitioners allege mala fides on the part of the 2nd respondent, but have not impleaded him by name. Be that as it may. The 2nd respondent’s endorsement extracted above is wholly unsustainable, is a position that is fairly conceded by the learned Government Pleader for Revenue. Merely since the lands are recorded as “Poramboku” lands in the revenue records, these cannot be treated as ‘assigned lands’ and thus prohibited from registration under Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977 (for short ‘the 1977 Act’). The 2nd respondent even without verifying the provisions of the 1977 Act has passed the grossly negligent order refusing registration. As a result of such negligent conduct of the respondent, the petitioners are constrained to undergo the expense and trauma of this litigation. The petitioners are thus the recipient of grossly deficient service by the State. On the analysis above and in the light of the statement made by the leaned Government Pleader for Revenue, the writ petition is allowed quashing the order of refusal dated 12-05-2009 passed by the 2nd respondent, refusing registration of the lease deed dated 07-05-2009 presented by the petitioners. The respondents shall now entertain and consider the lease deed for registration in accordance with law; and if for any reason, the Registering Officer is satisfied that the instrument cannot be registered, an order shall be passed and communicated to the petitioner within one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. As the order of refusal is passed by the 2nd respondent without application of mind and negligently, this Court considers it appropriate to allow this writ petition with costs of Rs.5,000-00 (Rupees five thousand only), of which Rs.2,500-00 (Rupees two thousand five hundred only) shall be paid to the petitioners and Rs.2,500-00 (Rupees two thousand five hundred only) to the Secretary, Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority, Hyderabad within three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. ____________________ GODA RAGHURAM, J Dated: 29-07-2009 Pvks Nb: A copy of this order shall be marked to the Secretary, A.P. State Legal Services Authority, Hyderabad for favour of information. B/o. pvks/*