THE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO.601 OF 2009 Dt.08.9.2009 Between: Vana Samrakshana Samithi Represented by its Chairman A. Niranjan S/o. A. Narsaiah, R/o. Thummanala Village Dharmapuri Mandal, Karimnagar District … Appellant And The Forest Range Officer, Jagtial Karimnagar District and others … Respondents THE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO.601 OF 2009 JUDGMENT: (per the Hon’ble Sri Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy) This Writ Appeal has been filed against order dt.7.11.2008 in Writ Petition No.26692 of 2003 whereby the learned Single Judge dismissed the Writ Petition. Heard Sri G. Madhusudhan Reddy, learned Counsel for the appellant, and perused the record. The appellant was formed in pursuance of a Government Order vide G.O. Ms. No.13, dt.12.2.2002. As per the said G.O., villages falling within 5 Kms. radius of original forest area should be formed into Vana Samrakshana Samithi (for short, “VSS”). Apart from Thummanala Village, there is another village by name Nakkalapet Village. The appellant claims that an extent of 912.46 hectares of forest land was allotted in its favour by the competent authority, i.e., the Divisional Forest Officer, Karimnagar, and it felt aggrieved by deletion of 170 hectares from out of the said land and allotting the same to Nakkalapet VSS. In the counter affidavit filed by the respondents, the claim of the appellant that it was allotted 912.46 hectares was denied. It was specifically averred that only an extent of 500 hectares was allotted to the appellant VSS by the Divisional Forest Officer, Karimnagar, vide proceedings dt.27.6.1998 and that as per the above mentioned G.O., if a village is situated within the radius of 5 Kms. of the forest, the land within that area is required to be allotted to the said village. It is, therefore, pleaded that in terms of the recommendations of the District Forest Committee, 170 hectares out of the total area of 912.46 hectares was allotted to Nakkalapet VSS and the remaining area of 742.46 was allotted to the appellant VSS. At the hearing, learned Advocate for the appellant submitted that though there was no formal allotment of 912.46 hectares in favour of the appellant, the fact, which was undisputed, was that the appellant maintained the entire extent by spending money and therefore it was unjust on the part of the respondents to exclude 170 hectares from the area allotted to the appellant and allot the same in favour of Nakkalapet VSS. Since the admitted fact remains that the appellant was allotted only an extent of 500 hectares, it cannot have any legitimate right over the balance area. Even assuming that the appellant was in occupation of the entire area of 912.46 hectares, no right came to be vested in it to insist that the entire land should be allowed to remain in its possession. The appellant does not deny the fact that Nakkalapet Village is entitled to be allotted 170 hectares of forest area in terms of G.O. Ms.No.13, dt.12.2.2002 in view of its proximity to the forest. In this view of the matter, we do not find any error in the order of the learned Single Judge, who declined to interfere with the allotment of 170 hectares in favour of Nakkalapet VSS. For the above-mentioned reasons, the Writ Appeal is dismissed. As a sequel to dismissal of the Writ Appeal, W.A.M.P. No.1210 of 2009, filed by the appellant for interim relief, is dismissed as infructuous. ______________ ANIL R. DAVE, CJ ______________________ C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY, J 08.09.2009 bnr