HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY W.P.Nos.19957 & 27037 of 2011 Date : 24-11-2011 W.P.No.19957/2011 Between : Sea End Farms (a registered partnership firm) Represented by its Managing Partner D. Ramalinga Raju, Secunderabad .. Petitioner And The District Collector, Visakhapatnam and others .. Respondents W.P.No.19957/2011 Counsel for petitioner: Sri O. Manohar Reddy Counsel for respondents: Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue W.P.No.27037/2011 Counsel for petitioners : Sri P. Veerraju Counsel for respondent Nos.1,2 & 4 : Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue Counsel for respondent No.3 : Government Pleader for Land Acquisition Counsel for respondent No.5 : None appeared The court made the following: COMMON ORDER: The subject matter of both these Writ Petitions being common, they are being heard and disposed of together. For convenience the parties are referred as they are arrayed in W.P.No.27037/2011. Respondent No.5 in W.P.No.27037/2011 filed W.P.No.19957/2011 with the grievance that the respondents therein have been interfering with its possession of lands in Sy.Nos.194/2, 3; 195/2, 3; 196/1, 2; 197/1, 2; 198/1, 2; and 199/1, 2, situated in Donivani Lakshmipuram village, Nakkapalli Mandal, Visakhapatnam District, without following due process of law. A similar grievance is made by the petitioners in W.P.No.27037/2011. In this Writ Petition (W.P.No.27037/2011), the grievance of the petitioners is not only against the official respondents, but also against respondent No.5. While it is the case of the petitioners that the lands in question are assigned lands which were assigned to their ancestors and that the petitioners have been in possession and enjoyment of the said lands by using the same for salt production, the plea of respondent No.5, however, is that the lands are private lands which were initially sold by the original owners in the year 1971 and that since then the property has changed several hands. It is the further case of respondent No.5 that it has purchased the property through as many as nine registered sale deeds in the year 1994. In the counter-affidavit filed by the official respondents, it is stated that the property is a Government land which was assigned to the landless poor persons; that later the land was alienated in favour of third parties by the assignees through several registered sale transactions; that finally respondent No.5 has purchased the land in the year 1994 and that eversince then it is in occupation of the said land. It is further averred that the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has made a requisition for allotment of Government lands/assigned lands for the Industrial Park and the same includes the property in dispute. At the hearing, Sri P.Veeraju, learned counsel for the petitioners, submitted that as admitted by the official respondents in their counter-affidavit, the properties are assigned lands and that even assuming that the same were alienated, the transactions are hit by the provisions of Section 3 of the A.P. Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act 1977 (Act 9 of 1977) (for short "the Act"). The learned counsel further submitted that the property claimed by the petitioners is different from the property claimed by respondent No.5. Sri O. Manohar Reddy, learned counsel for respondent No.5 submitted that the property is not an assigned land; that it is being sold through registered transactions from time to time from the year 1971 and that therefore there is no justification for the respondents to interfere with their possession of the property without following due process of law. With respect to the competing claims of the petitioners on one side and respondent No.5 on the other regarding possession, no document is filed by the petitioners to substantiate their plea that they are in possession of the lands in question. On the contrary, the possession of respondent No.5 is admitted by the official respondents in their counter-affidavit. Apart from the said admission, respondent No.5 has filed Adangals and Pattadar passbooks to substantiate its plea of possession. In the face of this material, besides the admission of the official respondents, the plea of the petitioners that they are in possession of the property cannot be accepted. Even though the learned counsel for the petitioners stated that the lands claimed by the petitioners are different from the lands which are allegedly in possession of respondent No.5, it is not possible for this Court to render a finding on this aspect as it involves adjudication of disputed facts. If the petitioners feel that the land claimed by them is different from the land in possession of respondent No.5, they shall be free to approach the competent Civil Court for appropriate relief. With respect to the grievance of respondent No.5, as noted above, there is no serious dispute as to the nature of the lands. While respondent No.5 averred that the lands are private patta lands, the official respondents have stated that that they are the Government assigned lands which were sold from time to time and respondent No.5 is the last of the purchasers who is in possession of the property. Even assuming that the lands are assigned lands as pleaded by the official respondents, they cannot dispossess respondent No.5 who is admittedly in possession on the basis of several registered sale transactions. If the official respondents are of the opinion that the lands are Government lands, they cannot interfere with the possession of respondent No.5 unless they initiate proceedings under the provisions of the Act and resume the land after following due procedure. In the premises as above, W.P.No.27037/2011 is dismissed and W.P.No.19957/2011 is allowed to the extent indicated above. As a sequel, interim order dated 15-7-2011 in WPMP No.24156/2011 in W.P.No.19957/011 and interim order dated 28-9-2009, as extended on 12-10-2011 in WPMP No.33404/2011 in W.P.No.27037/2011, are vacated and the said applications are disposed of as infructuous. ________________________ Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy Date : 24-11-2011 AM