IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 4246 of 2008 Between: Yellaboina Sreenu S/o. Late Ramulu R/o. Sarvaram Village, Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Special Deputy Collector, (Tribal Welfare) Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, 2 The Additional Agent to Government & Project Officer, I.T.D.A. Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 3 The Tahsildar, Kothagudem, Khammam District. .....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 to issue a writ or direction preferablay writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd respondent in passing appropriate orders either on the stay petition or on the appeal itself filed on 5-2-2008 against the order of eviction dt. 31-8-2007 in L.T.R. Case No. 214/2007/KGM Passed by the 1st respondent as illegal, arbitrary, and violative of principles of natural justice and consequently direct the 1st Respondent to consider and dispose of the stay petition or the appeal itself within a reasonable time and further direct the respondents 1 to 3 or their subordinate staff not to dispossess petitioner from possession and enjoyment of the land in S.Nos 7/9 to an extent of Acs 3- 06 gts situated at Sarwaram Village, of Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District pending disposal of the appeal on the file of the 2nd respondent and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.KOWTURU VINAYA KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR SOCIAL WELFARE The Court made the following : Order: In this Writ Petition, petitioner has questioned the inaction of the second respondent-Additional Agent to Government, ITDA, Bhadrachalam, in not disposing of the appeal preferred by him on 05-02-2008 and also the order of eviction passed by the first respondent-Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare), Bhadrachalam, in LTR Case No.214/2007/KGM dated 28th September, 2007. Heard learned Counsel for petitioner and learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare appearing for respondents. In view of pendency of the appeal filed by petitioner under the provisions of A.P. Schedule Areas Land Transfer Regulation 1 of 1959, as amended by Regulation 1 of 1970 (for short ‘the Regulations’), this Writ Petition is disposed of at the stage of admission. Petitioner claims title and possession over the land admeasuring Ac.3.06 guntas covered by Survey No.7/9 situated at Sarvaram Village of Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District. It is the case of the petitioner that the said land was purchased by his father from one Malothu Seethiya, vide sale deed dated 08-04-1968, before the prohibition of transfers inter se non-tribals by way of amended Regulation 1/70, came into force. It is further stated that though transfer of the said land in favour of the petitioner’s father was not in contravention of the Regulations, but however, the first respondent-Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare), Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, misconstrued the provisions and passed the order of eviction dated 28th September, 2007 and directed that the lands in question be taken into Government custody. It is further stated that as against the said order of eviction, the petitioner has already preferred an appeal along with an interlocutory petition seeking interim stay before the second respondent on 05-02-2008 and the same are pending consideration. The grievance of petitioner is that though the appeal filed by him is pending consideration from December, 2007, on one hand, no orders have been passed and on the other, respondents are taking steps to evict him from the lands in question. Inasmuch as petitioner claims that the lands in question were purchased by his father in 1968 before prohibition came into force on 03-02-1970, and that he has been in continuous possession of the same, and as the statutory appeal filed by petitioner against the order of eviction is pending consideration, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the Writ Petition directing the second respondent-appellate authority to dispose of the appeal preferred by the petitioner on 05-02-2008 as expeditiously as possible. Further, I direct that the order of eviction dated 31-08-2007 passed by the first respondent in LTR Case No.214/2007/KGM shall remain suspended till disposal of the appeal preferred by petitioner and the orders passed thereon are communicated to him. Subject to the above direction, the Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs. ___________________ (R.Subhash Reddy, J) 28th February, 2008 lur ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Special Deputy Collector, (Tribal Welfare) Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, 2 The Additional Agent to Government & Project Officer, I.T.D.A. Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 3 The Tahsildar, Kothagudem, Khammam District. 4 Two CCs to the G.P. for Social Welfare 5 Two CD copies. Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SPJS