IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.14161 of 2005 Between: 1 Nampally Chandrasena S/o. Sri Ramaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 2 Gajjela Ravi S/o. Sri Narsaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 3 Gajjela Permaiah, S/o. Sri Narsaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 4 Gajjela Bikshapathi, S/o. Sri Narsaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 5 Gajjela Sanjeeva Kumar S/o. Sri Narsaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 6 Neredugommula Venkateshwarlu, S/o. Sri Ramaiah, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. 7 Mohd. Faker Ahmed, S/o. Sri Mahboob Ali, R/o. Jangaon Village and Town, Warangal District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Regional Manager, APSRTC, Warangal Region, Warangal District. 2 The Divisional Manager, Jangoan, Division, APSRTC, Warangal 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 issue a writ or a direction or a writ more particularly a writ in the nature of mandamus declaring the proceedings issued by the Regional Manager, A.P.S.R.T.C. Warangal Region, Warangal District, the ﬁrst respondent herein in proceedings No. T2/110(2)/98-RM, Warangal, dt. 13-6-2005 to the petitioners individually for ﬁxing the monthly rent abnormally is contrary to the rehabilitation scheme of the Government of A.P., as null and void and consequently direct the ﬁrst respondent to enquire the existing rents for the similarly situated shops and ﬁx the nominal rent and pass such other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper. Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI P.PRATAP REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: SMT.P.RAJANI REDDY The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.14161 of 2005 ORDER: The seven petitioners raised small structures on the land abutting the road in Jangaon Town of Warangal District. These structures were demolished in 1997 in implementing the road widening programme as was done in diﬀerent places. When there was request by displaced persons for allotment of alternate site/shops, Government of Andhra Pradesh issued orders in G.O.Ms.No.560, General Administration (Genl.) Department, dated 22.12.1997. Under this Order the Collectors were authorized to take over lands of other Departments, construct shops/bunks on the land and lease out on nominal rent to displaced persons for a period of ﬁve years. The Government Order also stipulates that after completion of ﬁve years, the concerned Department/Institution would collect market related rents from the rehabilitated persons. In accordance with the Government Order the Collector appears to have taken over the land belonging to Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) and constructed seven shops of 10 X 10 size in Jangaon bus depot. These shops were allotted by the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer on 05.05.2000 to the petitioners herein on a nominal rent of Rs.1,000/- per month. After expiry of period of ﬁve years the ﬁrst respondent herein issued letters to all the petitioners separately demanding market rent of Rs.3,000/- per month for the period from 05.05.2005 to 04.05.2001. They were also asked to pay the arrears, and also to deposit six months licence fee i.e., Rs.18,000/- towards security deposit. In this writ petition all the petitioners seek invalidation of the communications demanding rent at Rs.3,000/- per month. The Law Oﬃcer of RTC ﬁled a counter aﬃdavit opposing the writ petition. The levy of rent at Rs.3,000/- per month and also demand of arrears thereof is justiﬁed placing reliance on G.O.Ms.No.560. It is also stated that RTC constructed 17 stalls with dimensions of 11.9 X 13 by collecting costs of construction from the tenderers only, and therefore, ﬁxation of rent at Rs.3,000/- per month is justified. It is further stated that the rents has been ﬁxed taking into consideration the existing 17 shops under Deposit, Operate and Transfers (DOT) Scheme, which works out to Rs.2,795/- as an average rent. The petitioners do not dispute the liability to pay rent at market value after expiry of ﬁve years. They, however, dispute ﬁxation of rent at Rs.3,000/- per month for their shops. Their contention is that when the rent at lesser rate is being collected from some of the shop owners, ﬁxation of rent at Rs.3,000/- per month from the shops which are small in size is arbitrary. A perusal of G.O.Ms.No.560 would show that RTC was permitted to collect market related rents after expiry of ﬁve years from the initial allotment. No guidelines are laid down therein. In such an event, as a special case, the concerned authority ought to have issued notice to the petitioners and negotiated with them for ﬁxation of rent. Instead of doing this, straightaway notices were issued to petitioners asking to pay rent at market value as assessed by RTC oﬃcials. This does not satisfy the principles of fairness. Keeping this in view, this Court is of considered opinion that it would be appropriate if Tender Committee, Warangal, looks into the matter and ﬁx the reasonable rent for the shops of the petitioners. It shall also be open to the petitioners to place all the material before the Tender Committee. Till then, the petitioners shall continue to pay a sum of Rs.2,000/- (Rupees two thousand only) per month as directed by this Court while passing interim orders in W.P.M.P.No.17981 of 2005 on 18.07.2005. Needless to mention that if there is any default on the part of the petitioners to pay the rents, it shall be open to the respondents to take action for termination of licence. The Writ Petition, with the above observations, is disposed of accordingly. No costs. ____________ (V.V.S.RAO, J) 06.11.2008 Note: Issue C.C in one week. B/o. vs To 1 The Regional Manager, APSRTC, Warangal Region, Warangal District. 2 The Divisional Manager, jangoan, Division, APSRTC, Warangal District. 3 2CCs to 4 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{VSMI}