IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 7647 of 2008 Between: 1 A. Srinu, S/o. Bikshamaiah, R/o. Ragigunta Village, K.V.B. Puram Mandal, Chittoor District. 2 A. Bikshamaiah, S/o. Durgaiah, R/o. Ragigunta Village, K.V.B. Puram Mandal, Chittoor District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Commissioner, Prohibition & Excise, Govt. of A.P., Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Chittoor. 3 The Proh. & Excise Superintendent, Chittoor, Chittoor District. 4 The Circle Inspector, Proh. & Excise, Srikalahasti, Chittoor District. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.N.M.KRISHNAIAH Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR PROHIBITION & EXCISE The Court made the following : Order: This Writ Petition is filed for a writ of mandamus to declare the action of the respondents, in not considering the cases of the petitioners for grant of TFT licenses for Ragigunta Village, K.V.B.Puram Mandal, Chittoor District, as illegal and arbitrary. The petitioners sought for a consequential direction to the respondents to grant TFT licenses to them. The petitioners claim to belong to tappers community and to have made their applications for grant of TFT licenses in the year 2006 itself. As no orders were passed on their applications, the petitioners submitted further representations in January, 2007. On receiving those representations, respondent No.4 issued notice dated 16-02-2007, calling the petitioners for tapping test to be conducted on 23-02-2007. The petitioners averred that in response to the said notice, they presented themselves before respondent No.4 and participated in the tapping test, which was videographed; that after receiving all the necessary certificates such as provisional certificate, nativity certificate, voters list, ration card and the identity card issued by the Mandal Revenue Officer, respondent No.4 informed the petitioners that he will forward those documents to respondent No.1 for grant of TFT licenses. Since the petitioners have not heard anything from the respondents, they claim to have submitted another representation on 17-12-2007 to the respondents for grant of TFT licenses. Feeling aggrieved by the silence on the part of the respondents, on the repeated representations of the petitioners, they filed the present Writ Petition for the afore-mentioned reliefs. Today at the hearing, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Prohibition and Excise made available a copy of the counter-affidavit of respondent No.4. It is stated in the counter-affidavit that petitioner No.1 is the son of petitioner No.2 and they filed W.P.No.23897 of 2005 in this Court to declare the action of the respondents, in not considering their cases for grant of TFT licenses in pursuance of their representations dated 17-12-2004 and 25-08-2005, as illegal and arbitrary; that this Court disposed of the said Writ Petition with the direction to respondent No.3 to consider the petitioners’ cases for grant of TFT licenses within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order; that subsequently, the relevant papers were forwarded to respondent No.4 to submit a detailed report regarding proof of residence of the petitioners on the strength of documents such as certificate of Mandal Revenue Officer, ration card and voters list of the village and professional certificate showing the petitioners as tappers issued by Sarpanch/Village Administrative Officer/Village Secretary of the Village; that on the said directions, respondent No.4 conducted tapping test to the petitioners on 07-01- 2005 under a panchanama and found the petitioners as tappers; that the petitioners produced the nativity certificate issued by the Mandal Revenue Officer, KVB Puram Mandal; that on the objection filed by the President, Suramala Toddy Tappers Cooperative Society, to the effect that the petitioners are not the natives of Ragigunta Village, respondent No.4 referred the matter to the Mandal Revenue Officer, K.V.B.Puram Mandal vide his letter dated 10-01-2005; that in reply, the Mandal Revenue Officer stated that the petitioners, to whom nativity certificates were issued, are not the permanent residents of Ragigunta Village as per detailed enquiry and they migrated from Nalgonda District to Ragigunta Village about 5 years back for their livelihood and are residing in rented houses at Perindesam Harijana Wada and Ragigunta Village, and during toddy season, they remain in the Village and go back to their hometown at Nalgonda District. It is further stated that in view of the above-said clarification given by the Mandal Revenue Officer vide his letter dated 18-01-2005, respondent No.4 has not recommended establishment of new toddy shop at Ragigunta Village for allotment under TFT scheme to the petitioners. It is further stated that on subsequent representations of the petitioners, respondent No.4 issued notices to them calling for tapping test along with provisional certificate, nativity certificate, voters list and ration card and both the petitioners attended to tapping test and were qualified, but they failed to produce the voters list and professional certificates. Hence, respondent No.4 submitted his report on 24-02-2007 for rejection of their request. Heard Sri N.M.Krishnaiah, learned Counsel for the petitioners, and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Prohibition and Excise. A careful perusal of the documents filed by the petitioners along with the Writ Petition shows that the petitioners were given household cards showing them as residents of House No.2-17 of Marigunta Street and Colony of Ragigunta Village. The said household cards contain the purported photographs of the petitioners along with a boy. The names of both the petitioners find a place in the said household card issued on 11-09-2006 by the Mandal Revenue Officer. The petitioners also produced a copy of the nativity certificate issued in the name of petitioner No.2 by the Mandal Revenue Officer, a copy of the identity card issued by the Election Commission of India in favour of petitioner No.1, and a copy of purported list of Srikalahasti Assembly Constituency No.135 wherein the name of petitioner No.1 is shown at Serial No.163. From the abovementioned documents, there cannot be any doubt that the petitioners are presently residing in Ragigunta Village of K.V.B.Puram Mandal. The clarification given by Mandal Revenue Officer itself shows that they are residing in Ragigunta Village for the last five years having migrated from Nalgonda District. Even if the clarification given by the Mandal Revenue Officer is taken on its face value, I see no justification in not treating the petitioners as residents of the Village, for which they made an application for grant of TFT license. The Republic of India is free nation and every citizen has a right to move from one place to the other and settle down wherever he wants to. Even if the petitioners, who were originally the natives of Nalgonda District, have not severed their links fully from their native places and keep visiting those places and spend their time there, that does not in any manner disqualify them from being considered for grant of TFT licenses, which, admittedly, is their only livelihood. In my considered opinion, the respondents absolutely misdirected themselves in treating the petitioners as not the residents of Ragigunta Village for the purpose of grant of TFT licenses. The very fact that a nativity certificate was earlier given, and respondent No.4 entertained second thoughts on certain objections, said to have been filed by a neighbouring society, itself shows that he allowed himself to be guided by the pressure that was evidently exerted by the Society, which has no locus standi, whatsoever, to interfere in the matter of grant of TFT licenses in favour of the petitioners. In the premises as above, the Writ Petition is allowed. Respondent Nos.3 and 4 are directed to forthwith consider the claims of the petitioners for grant of TFT licenses for Ragigunta Village by treating them as the residents of the said village. They shall complete this exercise within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. As a sequel to disposal of the Writ Petition, WPMP.No.10059 of 2008 filed by the petitioners for interim relief is disposed of as infructuous. _____________________ (C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J) 23-04-2008 LUR