IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 4135 of 2008 Between: Yellaboina Biksham S/o. Late Lingaiah R/o. Sarvaram Village, Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare) Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 2 The Additional Agent to Government & Project Officer, I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 3 The Tahsildar, Kothagudem, Khammam 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 to issue a writ or direction preferably writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd Respondent in passing appropriate orders either on the stay petition or on the appeal itself filed on 5-2-2008 against the order of eviction & Decree dt. 31-8-2007 in L.T.R. Case No. 249/2007/KGM passed by the 1st respondent as illegal, arbitrary and violative of principles of natural justice and consequently direct the 1st respondent to consider and dispose of the stay petition or the appeal itself within a reasonable time and further direct the respondents 1 to 3 or their subordinate staff not to dispossess petitioner from possession and enjoyment of the property in S.Nos. 74/10 to an extent of Acs 1-10 gts situated at Sarwaram Village, of Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.KOWTURU VINAYA KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR SOCIAL WELFARE The Court made the following : Order: Heard learned Counsel for petitioner and learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare appearing for respondents. In view of pendency of the appeal preferred by petitioner under the provisions of A.P. Schedule Areas Land Transfer Regulation 1 of 1959, as amended by Regulation 1 of 1970 (for short ‘the Regulations’), this Writ Petition is disposed of at the stage of admission. Petitioner herein claims ownership and possession over the land admeasuring Ac.1-10 guntas covered by Survey No.74/10 of Sarvaram Village, Kothagudem Mandal, Khammam District. It is the case of the petitioner that he purchased the aforesaid land from one Sri Bhukya Parsiya, who is a non-tribal, on 22nd March, 1967, before the prohibition of transfers inter se non-tribals by way of amended Regulation 1/70, came into force. It is submitted that though transfer of the said land in favour of the petitioner was not in contravention of the Regulations, but however, the first respondent-Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare), Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, misconstrued the provisions and passed the order of eviction dated 31-08-2007 under Section 3(2)(a) of Regulation 1 of 1959 and directed that the land in question be taken into Government custody. It is submitted that as against the said order of eviction, the petitioner has already preferred an appeal along with an interlocutory petition seeking interim suspension before the second respondent-Additional Agent to Government on 05-02-2008 and the same are pending consideration. It is the grievance of the petitioner that no valid reasons, to declare that the transfer of land in question in favour of the petitioner is in violation of the Regulation 1 of 1970, have been recorded in the impugned order passed by the first respondent and although the statutory appeal and the interlocutory petition filed by him are pending consideration before the second respondent from 5th February, 2008, on one hand, no orders have been passed and on the other, respondents are taking steps to evict him from the land in question. Inasmuch as petitioner claims that land in question was purchased by him in 1967 before prohibition came into force on 03-02-1970, and as the statutory appeal filed by him against the order of eviction passed by the first respondent is pending consideration, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the Writ Petition directing the second respondent-appellate authority to dispose of the appeal preferred by the petitioner on 05-02-2008, as expeditiously as possible by giving an opportunity of hearing to both the parties. It is further directed that order dated 31-08-2007 passed by the first respondent shall remain suspended till disposal of such appeal and the order passed thereon is communicated to the petitioner. Writ Petition is, accordingly, disposed of. No order as to costs. ___________________ (R.Subhash Reddy, J) 28th February, 2008 lur ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Special Deputy Collector (Tribal Welfare) Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 2 The Additional Agent to Government & Project Officer, I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam District. 3 The Tahsildar, Kothagudem, Khammam District. 4 Two CCs to the G.P for Social Welfare. 5 Two CD copies. Form-NIC-OGS/WP{VSMI}