THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.23049 OF 2009 Between: Adibhatla Kali Prasad & Others Petitioners And The Government of Andhra Pradesh Rep. By its Prl. Secretary, Revenue Department Secretariat, Hyderabad & 2 others Respondents THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.23049 OF 2009 ORDER: 1 The mother of the petitioner Smt. A. Dharmavathi was assigned a D form patta bearing D.R.No.320 in an extent of Ac.5.05 cts dry land in Sy.No.127-5, Madhurawada village, Visakhapatnam (Rural Mandal) Visakhapatnam District in October 1970 and since the date of assignment she had been in possession of the said land without any interruption and cultivated the said land till her death i.e.14.07.2008. Subsequent to the death of said Dharmavathi, when the petitioners, who are the legal representatives of said Dharmavathi, approached the Mandal revenue Officer, Visakhapatnam (Rural) to mutate the said land in their favour, they were informed that an order was passed on 16.04.2001 cancelling the said assignment made in favour of their mother and hence mutation cannot be done. The said order dated 16.04.2001 is under challenge in this Writ Petition. 2 The main contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that the said order dated 16.04.2001 is without any notice either to the petitioners or to the original assignee i.e. the mother of the petitioners and hence it is contrary to the provisions of law and violative of principles of natural justice. 3 The order dated 16.04.2001 clearly indicates that a show cause notice was sent to the original assignee i.e. Dharmavathi by registered post with acknowledgement due, but the same was returned with an endorsement by the postal department that such a person is not residing in the village. In the light of the said endorsement, a local publication was made in the Gram Panchayat by affixing the list of assignees along with the particulars of land, which are proposed for cancellation of D form pattas under violation of conditions of grant. But there was no response. Hence the same was promulgated in the village by way of beat of tom tom and also by affixing notices on the lands concerned. Further, the contents have also been published in the daily newspaper Eenadu Visakhapatnam edition. 4 In the light of the said exercise done by the Mandal Revenue Officer, Visakhapatnam, it cannot be said that the petitioners or their mother were not put on notice. The said order was passed in the year 2001, whereas, the petitioners’ mother died in the year 2008. So the said contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners that the said order is without any notice is hereby rejected. 5 However, the fact remains that the said order dated 16.04.2001 was without considering the explanation of the original assignee. Now that the petitioners have come forward stating that their mother is entitled to have the said patta, the petitioners, if they so choose, may approach the Mandal Revenue Officer and file an application requesting him to reopen the matter and the Mandal Revenue Officer, if satisfied, may reopen the matter, look into the aspect and pass appropriate orders as to whether the said order dated 16.04.2001 cancelling the assignment made in favour of the mother of the petitioners is in accordance with law or not. Till such time, status quo obtaining as on today shall be maintained. 6 Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs. ----------------- 28.10.2009 Kvsn