IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO : 1026 of 2001 Between: 1. Penuboina Venkanna, S/o P.Ramanna, Age 68Yrs., Occ: Agriculture, R/o Gurrala Cheruvu Village, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District. 2. Penuboina Veera Swamy, S/o P.Ramulu, Age 64Yrs., Occ: Agriculture, R/o Gurrala Cheruvu Village, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District. 3. Dantuluri Vijaya Rama Raju, S/o Appala Narasimha Raju, Age 52 Yrs., Occ: Agriculture, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONERS AND The Mandal Revenue Officer, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District. .....RESPONDENT 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 an appropriate writ, one more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondent in seeking to dispossess the petitioners from the land admeasuring Ac.7.32 guntas in Sy.No.108/152/E, Ac.4.32 guntas in Sy.No.108/152/U and Ac.5.00 in Sy.No.108/152 respectively situated at Aswaropet village, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District without following due process of law as illegal and arbitrary and consequently direct the respondent not to interfere with the possession and enjoyment of the petitioners in respect of the said lands. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.P.SHIV KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No : 1026 of 2001 O R D E R: The present Writ Petition is ﬁled impugning the action of the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District in seeking to dispossess the Petitioners from their lands in Sy.Nos.108/152/E, 108/152/U and 108/152 Ashwaraopet Village and Mandal, Khammam District without following the due process of law. The averments made in the aﬃdavit ﬁled in support of the Writ Petition would show that the Petitioners claimed to be the pattadars and possessors of the subject lands and were in a position to trace their title back to the year 1956. Pursuant to the partition in the Penuboina Ramanna’s family, the Government of Andhra Pradesh also issued title deeds and pattadar pass books to them individually. It is further stated that the pahani of the year 2001 also reﬂects the possession of the Petitioners over the said lands. While the matter stood thus, it is the complaint of the Petitioners that the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Ashwaraopeta Mandal, Khammam District started visiting the Petitioners’ lands and threatened to dispossess them on the ground that the said lands were sought to be allotted to third parties. It is stated that the Respondent did not disclose any further information in this regard and did not resort to issuance of a notice as per law in respect of the threatened action. However, the Petitioners apprehended that they would be dispossessed from their lands by the Respondent, without following the procedure laid down by law and approached this Court by way of the present Writ Petition. This Court, by order dated 25-01-2001, directed maintenance of status quo with regard to the possession over the subject lands. Sri P.Shiv Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the Petitioners would contend that the Petitioners are entitled to the protection of law and it is not open to the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Ashwaraopeta Mandal to resort to any action to dispossess them without following the procedure as laid down by law. No counter affidavit is filed by the Respondent. In the light of the fact that the Respondent did not choose to ﬁle a counter aﬃdavit rebutting the factual aspects, the submission of the learned counsel for the Petitioners ﬁnds favour with this Court. It is not open to the authorities to interfere with the possession of the citizens over their properties, without taking recourse to the procedure laid down by law. If at all the Respondent ﬁnds a necessity to interfere with the possession of the Petitioners over the subject lands, he is bound to adhere to and comply with the due procedure. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of directing the Respondent not to dispossess the Petitioners from the subject lands without taking recourse to the procedure laid down by law. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________________ P.V.SANJAY KUMAR,J Date: 17-09-2008 KLP