IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH WRIT PETITION No: 3516 of 2001 BETWEEN: 1 Erva Ramakrishna Reddy, S/o. Shri Malla Reddy, R/o. Zamistanpur, Hyderabad. 2 E. Sadasiva Reddy, S/o. Ramakrishna Reddy, R/o. Zamistanpur, Hyderabad. 3 E. Veerabhadra Reddy, S/o. Ramakrishna Reddy, R/o. Zamistanpur, Hyderabad. ... PETITIONERS AND 1 The District Collector, Hyderabad, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The Special Officer and Competent Authority, ULC, Gagan Vihar, Nampally, Hyderabad. 3 The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, Tank Bund, Hyderabad. 4 The Assistant City Planner, Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, Circle, No. III, Hyderabad. 5 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Musheerabad Mandal, Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate Writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of 'WRIT OF MANDAMUS' declaring the action of the respondents in purporting to demolish the dwelling units bearing H.Nos.1-7- 1043, 1-7-1044, and 1044/1 situated in Survey No.179, Zamistanpur village, Hyderabad under the guise of the lands are Government lands without issuing any notice or initiating acquisition proceedings, as arbitrary, illegal and violative of Articles 14, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.A.NARASIMHA REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR REVENUE SMT. KALPANA EKBOTE The Court made the following: ORDER: Petitioners submit that they are the absolute owners of the land admeasuring 6614.21 sq. meters in Sy.No.179 of Zamistanpur Village and they have constructed houses prior to the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (for short ‘the Act’) came into force and the Municipality also allotted municipal numbers as Door Nos.1-7-1043, 1-7-1044 and 1-7-1044/1. Thereafter, the petitioners filed a declaration under Section 6(1) of the Act before the second respondent – Special Officer & Competent Authority, Urban Land Ceiling, in File Nos.C.C.No.3181/76, 3182/76, 3183/76, 3184/76 and 3185/76. The second respondent passed orders under Section 8(1) of the Act in proceedings No.H1/3181/76 to 3185/76 on 30.12.1995 declaring that the petitioners are not surplus holders in respect of the said land. While so, the Assistant City Planner – third respondent under the instructions of his superior authority threatened to demolish the houses of the petitioners and dispossess them without issued any notice. Therefore, they were constrained to file this writ petition seeking a Writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in purporting to demolish the dwelling units of the houses in Sy.No.179, Zamistanpur village under the guise that the land belongs to the Government and without issuing any notice as illegal and arbitrary. 2. Counter has been filed on behalf of the respondents 1 and 4 stating that there is no Sy.No.179 as alleged by the petitioners and in fact, the land claimed by the petitioners’ correlates to T.S.No.6, Block F, Ward No.154 of Zamistanpur Village totally admeasuring 22,580 sq. meters and as per the survey records the said land belongs to the Government and the TLSR register is maintained accordingly. It is further stated that the petitioners are encroachers of the said Government land in Sy.No.179 and they are liable to be evicted as per the Andhra Pradesh Land Encroachment Act. Insofar as declarations filed under Section 6(1) of the Act are concerned, it is stated that the orders passed by the Special Officer are not binding on the municipal corporation and therefore, they are liable to be evicted. 3. Admittedly, no notice has been issued before the threatened action. Even assuming that the said lands are Government lands without taking any appropriate legal proceedings either under the Andhra Pradesh Land Encroachment Act, if the respondents are entitled to do so or by other legal means under the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, the petitioners cannot be evicted and their houses cannot be demolished. If the Government claims the land it is always open to it to initiate action under the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, as it may not be just and proper to evict the petitioners by invoking summary proceedings under the Andhra Pradesh Land Encroachment Act. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of as indicated above. There shall be no order as to costs. ______________ V. ESWARAIAH, J July 4, 2008 DSK