IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.24348 of 2006 Between: V.R.Ravanan and 3 others ..... PETITIONERS AND 1.The District Collector, Chittoor and others. .....RESPONDENTS The Hon'ble Sri Justice C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy Writ Petition No.24348 of 2006 Order: This Writ Petition is filed for a writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in taking steps to dispossess the petitioners from land admeasuring Ac.17.00 in Survey Nos.378/1, 2, 3 and 4 of Annaswamipalle Village, Renigunta Mandal, Chittoor District, without issuing notice and initiating proceedings under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 300-A of the Constitution of India. The petitioners also sought for a consequential direction to the respondents not to dispossess the petitioners from the said lands. The petitioners claim that an extent of Ac.17.09 cents of land in Annaswamipalle Village, Renigunta Mandal, Chittoor District, is a patta land belonging to the private individuals, that the said land was sub-divided and pattadar pass books have been issued in favour of the pattadars, and that the said extents were purchased by the petitioners under registered sale deeds in the year 1978, the details of which are shown in annexure-B. The petitioners allege that respondent No.2 is taking steps to dispossess the petitioners highhandedly on the purported ground that the land is required for private house sites to weaker sections under Indiramma Padhakam. It is alleged that no notice has been issued or an opportunity was given to the petitioners to put forth their objections, and that the pattadar pass books and title deeds issued in favour of the petitioners’ vendors clearly show that they are the owners of the property. Respondent No.3, Sri K.Chengalraya Naidu, Mandal Revenue Officer, Renigunta Mandal, Chittoor District, filed a counter affidavit, in which, it is inter alia averred that the extent of Ac.17.04 cents comprised in Survey No.378 of Annaswamipalle Village is classified as Thaka, Gayalu (UAW) as per the village accounts, that one Smt.Vydyam Kudimi Padmavathamma, W/o. Munaswamy Naidu, has filed claim petition before the Settlement Officer, Nellore, along with a petition to condone the delay of 13 years, that by order dated 21-12-1987, the Settlement Officer, Nellore rejected the said application for condonation of delay, and that aggrieved by the said order, the said claimant preferred revision before the Special Commissioner and Director of Settlements, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, vide R.P.No.14/89-H1. It is further stated that after the death of the revision petitioner, her son V.Radha Krishna Murthy and Smt.R.Anasuya, filed applications to bring them on record as legal heirs of the deceased claimant and that the Special Commissioner and Director of Settlements, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, dismissed the revision petition on 31-07-2002. It is further stated that consequent to the dismissal of the revision petition, possession of the land was taken by the Government on 09-09-2003 under Section 3(d) of the Estates Abolition Act, 1948, and that since then, the Government has been in lawful possession of the property. It is further stated that the Mandal Revenue Inspector, Renigunta, on verification of records, found that certain unauthorized entries in the village accounts were made in respect of the above mentioned property in the name of four persons viz., V.R.Indrani, K.Murugesan, T.S.Ramadasu and V.R.Rani, and that notice dated 17- 07-2005 was issued to the above said persons to file their objections, if any, for the proposal to cancel the entries in the revenue records, and that when the notices were sought to be served to the said persons, the Mandal Revenue Inspector was informed that they are not the residents of Annaswamipalle Village or its hamlets, and therefore, notices were published by substituted service by affixture on the notice board of the Gram Panchayat Office of Annaswamipalle Village, in Annaswamipalle Village temple and on the notice board of the Gram Panchayat Office, Venkatapuram, apart from publishing the contents of the notice in the Village and its hamlets by beating of tom-tom. It is further alleged that the names of the alleged pattadars and writ petitioners were not found in the electoral rolls, and pursuant to the notice, no objections were received by the Office of the Mandal Revenue Officer, and therefore, assuming that there were no objections to the notices, respondent No.3 issued proceedings dated 20-08-2005, cancelling the entries in the revenue records, and that the said fact was published in the Annaswamipalle Village by beat of tom-tom apart from causing publication through substituted service. It is further alleged that a panchanama was also recorded evincing cancellation of entries. Respondent No.3 further stated in the counter affidavit that as the said land is adjacent to Renigunta town and lying vacant, the same was selected for the provision of house sites and handed over to the District Manager, A.P.State Housing Corporation Limited, Chittoor, for construction of houses under the Urban Housing Scheme on 11-09-2006 to be distributed to the beneficiaries. Sri P.Chakravarthy, learned Counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the property in dispute is covered by private pattas, that the revenue records including pattadar pass books and title deeds stood in the name of the petitioners’ vendors and that the petitioners, having purchased the properties for valuable consideration under registered sale deeds, cannot be dispossessed or deprived of the property without following due process of law. Learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, while opposing these contentions, reiterated the contents of the counter-affidavit, and stated that the original claimant and her legal heirs, having failed to get ryotwari pattas under Estates Abolition Act, 1948, the land got vested in the Government and with the dismissal of the revision petition by the Special Commissioner and Director of Settlements on 31-07-2002, the possession of the land was taken on 09-09-2003. He further submitted that the entries in the revenue records were duly cancelled after following the procedure prescribed by law. The fact that proceedings under the Estates Abolition Act, 1948, ended against the claimants is not disputed. The learned Counsel for the petitioners, at the hearing, conceded that proceedings dated 20-08-2005, under which the entries in the village accounts were cancelled, are not questioned either by the petitioners or any other person. Therefore, the claim of the petitioners, based on the pattadar pass books and title deeds, which stood in the name of the vendors of the petitioners, cannot be accepted in view of the cancellation of the entries in the revenue record. Even assuming that the petitioners purchased the property under registered sale deeds, unless their vendors had title over those properties, the petitioners cannot derive any title. Further, in the absence of any contra material filed by the petitioner, I have no reason to disbelieve the assertions contained in the counter affidavit that possession of the land was taken by the respondents on 09-09-2003. Hence, there is no merit in the contention of the learned Counsel for the petitioners that the petitioners are sought to be dispossessed without following due process of law. Unless the petitioners are able to establish their title over the property before the appropriate Court of law and get a declaration to that effect, they cannot succeed in getting the relief as claimed in this Writ Petition. For the aforementioned reasons, the Writ Petition is dismissed. However, liberty is given to the petitioners to initiate proceedings before the appropriate Court/Tribunal to establish their title and/or question the proceedings, by which the entries in the revenue record were deleted. ___________________ (C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY) 21-01-2008 LUR