IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE FIRST DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION NO : 4920 of 2007 Between: The Municipal Corporation of Vijayawada, Vijayawada, Krishna District rep by its Commissioner N Gulzar, S/o K.G. Natarajan aged 32 R/o Vijayawada Krishna District ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, rep byits Registrar, 2 T.A. Rama Rao S/o late Veera Raghavaaiah Corportionof Vijayawada, R/o Block-8 LIGH Quarters, Brundavan Colony, Venkateswara Puram Vijayawada,Krishna District. 3 Government of Andhra Pradesh repbyPrincipal Secretary, Municipal Administration Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) 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 of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ or direction declaring the order of the A.P. Administrative tribunal passed in M.A. No. 706 of 2007 in OA. No. 5098 of 2005 dated 05-03-2007 and the order passed on 12-02-3007 forfeiting the right of petitioner to file counter as illegal, arbitrary and set a side the same and pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: SMT.G.JHANSI Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR SERVICES I ORDER: (Per Sri Justice GHULAM MOHAMMED) ORDER: (per Mr. Justice GHULAM MOHAMMED) This Writ Petition is filed seeking a Mandamus declaring the Order passed by A.P. Administrative Tribunal at Hyderabad in M.A.No.706 of 2007 in O.A.No.5098 of 2005, dated 5-3-2007 and also the Order dated 12-2-2007 passed in the O.A., forfeiting the right of the petitioner to file counter as arbitrary and illegal and consequently set aside the same. The brief facts, which led to the filing of the Writ Petition are as under: O.A.No.5098 of 2005 filed by the 2nd respondent herein seeking to set aside the Proceedings in Rc.No.N1-13846/96(1), dated 5-5-2005 passed by the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Vijayawada and consequently to direct the respondents therein to release the withheld amount, was dismissed for default on 29-12-2006. Thereafter, the O.A. was restored and it came up for hearing on 12-2-2007. On the said date, the following order was passed by the Tribunal: “The O.A. has been admitted and notices were issued on 2.9.2005. In spite of service of notices, till today, no counter has been filed in the O.A. In view of the A.P.A.T. Practice Rules, counter to be filed within a period of 4 week from the date of receipt of the notices. Therefore, as no counter is filed within the stipulated time in accordance with the rules, the right to file counter by the respondent is forfeited. The Office is, therefore, directed to issue summons to the 2nd respondent for appearance along with the records to proceed with the hearing of this O.A. Post on 5.3.2007.” Thereafter, the petitioner herein (2nd respondent before the Tribunal) filed the present M.A.No.706 of 2007 seeking to dispense with his appearance and to recall the order passed on 12.2.2007, stating that a counter has been filed by the Corporation on 17.1.2007 itself and by mistake, the Registry had not placed the counter in the bundle. Further, when the matter was listed on 12-2-2007, his counsel’s name was not printed in the cause list and neither the list was circulated to his counsel nor placed in the net. Under those circumstances, the filing of counter on 17.1.2007 was not brought to the notice of the Tribunal. The Tribunal, however, dismissed the M.A. and directed to issue non-bailable warrant to the petitioner herein. Challenging the said Order, the present Writ Petition is filed. Heard both sides and perused the entire material made available on record. Admittedly, the O.A. was dismissed for default on 29-11-2006 and it was restored to file. It came up for hearing on 12-2-2007. But, in the meanwhile, the petitioner herein filed his counter before the Tribunal on 17-1-2007. However, the said fact was not brought to the notice of the Tribunal and, therefore, it passed an order directing to issue summons to the petitioner herein for his appearance and to produce the records and posted the case to 5-3-2007. Meanwhile, the petitioner herein filed M.A.No.706 of 2007 seeking to dispense with his appearance. But, the Tribunal dismissed the application on 5-3-2007 holding that the petitioner herein was bound to appear along with the records to proceed with the hearing of the case and if any explanation was to be given, the same should have been given by him by appearing in person and directed to issue non-bailable warrant to him. As it was brought to the notice of the Tribunal that the counter was already filed on 17-1-2007 and the cause list was not circulated to his counsel on 12-2-2007, the Tribunal ought to have allowed the M.A. and proceeded with the case on merits, instead of issuing Non-bailable Warrant to the petitioner to appear on 26.3.2007. In the circumstances, the impugned Orders are set aside and M.A.No.706 of 2007 shall stand allowed. The Tribunal is directed to dispose of the O.A. itself, on merits, in accordance with law, as expeditiously as possible. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is allowed. No order as to costs. ____________________ (Ghulam Mohammed,J) _____________ (C.V.Ramulu,J) 1st July, 2008 KA ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, rep byits Registrar, 2 T.A. Rama Rao S/o late Veera Raghavaaiah Corportionof Vijayawada, R/o Block-8 LIGH Quarters, Brundavan Colony, Venkateswara Puram Vijayawada,Krishna District. 3 Government of Andhra Pradesh repbyPrincipal Secretary, Municipal Administration Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 4. CC to G.P. for Services –I, High Court of A.P. Hyderabad. 5. 2CD copies