IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 16840 of 2008 Between: Gagguri Peda Babu, S/o. Satyam, R/o. Morramvanigudem Village, Venkatapuram Mandal, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Tahsildar, Venkatapuram Mandal, Venkatapuram, Khammam District. 2 The Commissioner and Director of Settlements, Survey Bhavan, Narayanaguda, 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 will be pleased to to issue a Writ, Order or direction more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd respondent in not disposing the statutory appeal ﬁled on 23-7-2008 as against the orders passed by the Settlement Oﬃcer, Bhadrachalam in Case No. 6964 dated 30-12- 1983 communicated on 17-7-2008 and taking steps to distribute the lands in the suit scheduled property situated in R.S.No. 86 to an extent of 3.17 hectors situated at Morramvanigudem Village, Venkatapuram Manal, Khammam District, as arbitrary, illegal and violative of Article 21 and 300(A) of the Constitution of India and the Government instructions issued in Government Memo No. 892/J2/80-1, dated 17-7-1980 and consequentially direct the respondents not to evict the petitioner from the suit scheduled lands pending disposal of the above Writ Petition and to pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.P.V.RAMANA Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following Order: It is the case of the petitioner that he ﬁled an appeal before the second respondent-Commissioner and Director of Settlements, Hyderabad, under Section 3(9) of the A.P. Scheduled Areas Ryotwari Settlement Regulation 2 of 1970, against the order of the Settlement Oﬃcer, Bhadrachalam, dated 30-12-1983, in rejecting his claim for grant of ryotwari patta. The grievance of the petitioner is that despite a statutory appeal along with a stay petition is pending consideration before the second respondent, the ﬁrst respondent is taking steps to distribute the lands situated in R.S.No.86 to an extent of 3.17 hectares situated at Morramvanigudem village of Venkatapuram Mandal, Khammam District. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader for Revenue and at their request, the writ petition itself is being disposed of at the admission stage. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that though the stay application was ﬁled on 23-07-2008, the ﬁrst respondent has not passed any orders so far. He further relied on a Memo No.89/J2/80-1 dated 17-07-1980 to contend that though the Government had directed the authorities not to evict such of those claimants whose cases are pending before the Settlement authorities for grant of ryotwari pattas, the ﬁrst respondent is taking steps to evict the petitioner. Admittedly, the statutory appeal ﬁled by the petitioner is pending consideration before the second respondent. That apart, the Government through its memo dated 17-07-1980 clearly directed the authorities not to evict the claimants whose cases are pending. In the circumstances, I deem it appropriate to direct the second respondent-Commissioner and Director of Settlements to dispose of the appeal ﬁled by the petitioner as expeditiously as possible. Till then, the ﬁrst respondent is directed not to evict the petitioner from the land in question. The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. No order as to costs. _________________ N.V.RAMANA,J Dt:25-08-2008 Usd To 1 The Tahsildar, Venkatapuram Mandal, Venkatapuram, Khammam District. 2 The Commissioner and Director of Settlements, Survey Bhavan, Narayanaguda, Hyderabad. 3 Two CCs to GP for Revenue, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 4 Two CD copies.