IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION Nos.8754 and 8767 of 2008 WRIT PETITION NO : 8754 of 2008 Between: Pingali Sreenivasa Reddy, S/o. Venkateswara Reddy, R/o. Pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Sri Pancha Pattabhiramaswamy Temple, Rep. by its Manager, Ganapavaram Village, Rajupalem Mandal, Guntur District. 2 The Regional Joint Commissioner, Endowments Department, Tirupathi. 3 The Deputy Commissioner, Endowments Department, Guntur 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 may be pleased to issue any Writ, Order or direction more in the nature of Writ of MANDAMUS declaring the action of the Respondent's in conducting the auction of the land situated in Sy.No. 199, Pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District, admeasuring AC. 4.79 Cts., as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Principles of Natural Justice and consequently direct the Respondents not to interfere with the peaceful of possession and enjoyment of the Petitioners land situated in Sy.No. 199, situated in Pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District, admeasuring Ac. 4.79 Cts., till the disposal of the suit filed by me on the file of Senior Civil Judge, Narsaraopet, Guntur District. WRIT PETITION No.8767 of 2008 Between: Pingali Narasimha Reddy, S/o. Venkateswara Reddy, R/o. Pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Sri Pancha Pattabhiramaswamy Temple, Rep by its Manager, Ganapavaram Village, Rajupalem Mandal, Guntur District. 2 The Regional Joint Commissioner, Endowments Department, Tirupati. 3 The Deputy Commissioner, Endowments Department, Guntur 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 may be pleased to issue any Writ, order or direction more in the nature of Writ of MANDAMUS declaring the action of the Respondents in conducting the auction of the land situated in Sy.No.199, pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District, admeasuring Ac.4.79 Cts.,as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Principles of natural justice and consequently direct the Respondents not to interfere with the peaceful of possession and enjoyment of the Petitioners land situated in Sy.No.199, situated in Pakalapadu Village, Sattenapalli Mandal, Guntur District, admeasuring Ac.4.79 Cts., till the disposal of the suit filed by petitioners on the file of Senior Civil Judge, Narsaraopet, Guntur District. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.S.SRIDHAR Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR ENDOWMENTS The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION Nos.8754 and 8767 of 2008 COMMMON ORDER: As the point involved in these writ petitions is same, these writ petitions are disposed of by this common order. These writ petitions are filed questioning the action of the respondents in conducting auction in respect of the land in Sy.No.199 situated at Pakalapadu village of Sattenapalli Mandal in Guntur District. It is the case of the petitioners that the land in Sy.No.199 admeasuring Acs.9.58 cents originally belonged to one Vedantam Rajyalakshmamma, who inherited the same from her ancestors. Some decades ago, the said Rajyalakshmamma leased out the said land orally to the parents of the petitioners on payment of required maktha. Thereafter, on 23.07.1985, the said Rajyalakshmamma executed a registered permanent lease deed in favour of the petitioners’ father in respect of an extent of Acs.8.00 of land, after receiving an amount of Rs.16,000/- from him. Likewise, she has also executed a registered permanent lease deed in favour of the petitioners’ mother in respect of an extent of Ac.1.58 cents of land, after receiving an amount of Rs.2,000/-. Till their death, petitioners’ parents were in possession and enjoyment of the said land and after their demise, petitioners came into possession of the said land and expended huge amounts. They are eking out their livelihood by attending to agricultural operations in the said land. Subsequently, petitioners got divided the said land into two equal shares and thus each of them is in possession and enjoyment of an extent of Acs.4.79 cents. Be that as it may, the 1st respondent temple, treating the land in question as that of the one belonging to it and petitioners are in unauthorized occupation of the same, initiated proceedings under Section 83 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987. Accordingly, the 1st respondent issued notices to the petitioners seeking their eviction, to which, petitioners stated to have submitted their replies. However, being not satisfied with the replies of the petitioners, the 1st respondent filed O.A.Nos.89 and 90 of 2005 against the petitioners, respectively, before the 3rd respondent, who in turn, conducted detailed enquiry and by orders dated 30.06.2007 gave a finding that the petitioners are the encroachers of the land in question and thus ordered their eviction. Aggrieved thereby, petitioners filed revisions, being R.P.Nos.46 and 47 of 2007, before the 2nd respondent, which were dismissed with an observation that there is a title dispute and the 2nd respondent has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the same and thereby petitioners were directed to approach a competent civil court. Now it is the grievance of the petitioners that as their efforts were futile, they were contemplating to file suits for declaration of tile before a competent civil court, but in the meanwhile, respondents are trying to auction the leasehold rights of the land in question. Hence, this writ petition. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, learned Standing Counsel for the 1st respondent and also the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Endowments appearing for respondents 2 and 3. The efforts put in by the petitioners all these years clearly reveal that they bona fide believed that their parents and thereafter, they are the permanent lessees of the land in question. Even then, when the land in question belongs to the 1st respondent temple, they cannot get any title over the said land. However, as it is stated in the affidavits filed in support of these writ petitions that the petitioners are making preparation to file suits for declaration of tile, petitioners are hereby directed to file suits along with petitions seeking interim injunction within a period of four weeks from today, and respondents 1 to 3 are directed not to evict the petitioners from the land in question, till the injunction petitions in the suits to be filed by the petitioners are decided. With the above directions, the writ petitions are disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. _____________________________ (GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA, J) 23rd April 2008. Note: Communicate the operative portion of the order by wire at party’s cost. (B/o) sh To 1 The Manager, Sri Pancha Pattabhiramaswamy Temple, Ganapavaram Village, Rajupalem Mandal, Guntur District. 2 The Regional Joint Commissioner, Endowments Department, Tirupathi. 3 The Deputy Commissioner, Endowments Department, Guntur District. 4. Two C.Cs 5. Two C.D. copies