IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 10089 of 2008 Between: 1 P. Niranjan Reddy, S/o. Venkata Krishna Reddy, R/o. D.No. 16-1999, Srinivasa Agraharam, Nellore Town, Nellore District. 2 K. Sulochana, W/o. Lakshminarayana, R/o. D.No. 16-1999, Srinivasa Agraharam, Nellore Town, Nellore District. ..... PETITIONERS AND The Sub-Registrar, SRO, Venkatagiri, Nellore 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 a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction declaring the Letter No. Nil dated 7-2-2008 issued by the respondent as illegal arbitrary and without justification and consequently set aside the same. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.P.GANGA RAMI REDDY Counsel for the Respondent : GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : ORDER: In this writ petition, the petitioner is questioning the impugned order dated 7.2.2008 passed by the Sub-Registrar, Venkatagiri invalidating the registered document Nos.1660 and 1661 of 2007 in view of the letter No.RC.B1.4151/07 dated 11.12.2007 of the Sub-Collector, Gudur. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Government Pleader for Revenue. Pursuant to the notice issued by this Court on 12.6.2008, the respondent has filed a counter affidavit inter alia stating that on the representation of the villagers of D.Upparapalli that some illegal transactions have taken place on the government lands situated in S.No.59 of D.Upparapalli Village, the then Mandal Revenue Officer, Dakkili has made an enquiry and submitted his report to the Sub-Collector, Gudur through letter Rc.B.443/2007 dated 5.12.2007 to the effect that certain illegal sale transactions have been registered on the government land vide agreement of sale cum GPA documents bearing Nos.1660 and 1661 of 2007 basing on a fake document dated 25.10.2004 issued by the then Mandal Revenue Officer, Dakkili. It is also stated that the Sub-Collector, Gudur through letter Rc.B1.4151/2007 dated 11.12.2007 directed him not to entertain such registrations in future. Subsequently, the District Collector, Nellore through letter dated 19.12.2007 also directed him to cancel the registered documents and basing on the said letters, the impugned order is passed. It is stated that the petitioners were intimated about the cancellation of the registrations basing on the letters of the District Collector and the Sub-Collector. The learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondent fairly submits that the petitioners were not put on notice before passing of the impugned orders contrary to the provisions of Rule 26 (k) of A.P. Rules, framed under the Registration Act. In view of the above admission that the petitioners were not given any opportunity to put forth their case before passing the impugned order, the writ petition is allowed and the impugned order is set aside. However, the Sub- Registrar is at liberty to pass appropriate orders in accordance with law after issuing notice to the petitioners. N.V.RAMANA,J Dt.21.7.2008 msv ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1. The Sub-Registrar, SRO, Venkatagiri, Nellore District. 2 2CCs to Govt.Pleader for Revenue, High Court of A.P. Hyd. 3 2CD copies