HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY W.P.No.31830 of 2010 Date : 16-12-2010 Between: V.Surya Prakash s/o.V.Narayana Murthy and others .. Petitioners and The State of Andhra Pradesh, Represented by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad and others .. Respondents Counsel for petitioners : Sri Dammalapati Srinivas Counsel for respondent Nos.1 to 5 : Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue The Court made the following : ORDER: This Writ Petition is filed for a mandamus to set-aside order dated 21-6-2010 of respondent No.3 whereby he has rejected the petitioners’ application for grant of stay. The petitioners are the purchasers of land admeasuring Ac.0-13 cents, comprised in S.No.487-2 of Dharmavaram town. The said land was assigned to Smt.Sake Gangamma by an order in the year 1975. Under Clause 8 of the said order, the Government reserved to itself the power to resume the land if the assignee disposes of the same by way of sale within ten years from the date of assignment without obtaining written orders from the Revenue Divisional Officer, Dharmavaram. The petitioners claimed to have purchased the said land much after the expiry of ten years of assignment. However, by proceedings dated 11-2-2010, respondent No.5 has passed order resuming the land on the ground that the same was sold in favour of the petitioners contrary to the assignment conditions. Questioning the said order, the petitioners have filed an appeal before respondent No.4 who by his order dated 12-5-2010, dismissed the appeal. Feeling aggrieved thereby, the petitioners filed a revision petition before respondent No.3. While entertaining the said revision petition, respondent No.3 has however rejected the stay on the ground that there are no substantive grounds. According to the petitioners, the said order was never communicated to them and that they were aware of the said order on 4-12-2010 on which date, the hearing of the revision was posted. The petitioners further averred that despite pendency of the stay application, respondent No.5 and his subordinates have been trying to demolish the structures and that on an earlier occasion also they have made a similar attempt by partly demolishing the structures. Having heard the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue (Assignments) and carefully perused the impugned order, I am of the opinion that the rejection of interim order by respondent No.3 by a cryptic observation that he does not find substantive grounds, cannot be sustained. The fact that he has entertained the revision petition which is pending, itself shows that respondent No.3 is satisfied with the prima facie case of the petitioners. He ought to have realized that rejection of stay may lead to demolition of structures and dispossession of the petitioners which may render the very revision petition itself infructuous. Prima facie, in the face of Clause No.8 referred to above, the petitioners have a substantial ground in the revision petition to question the legality or otherwise of the orders passed by respondent Nos.4 and 5. Therefore, it would have been reasonable for respondent No.3 to have granted stay till disposal of the revision petition. For the above mentioned reasons, the impugned order is set-aside and the Writ Petition is allowed. The respondents are directed not interfere with the possession of the petitioners in respect of the property in dispute till disposal of the revision petition. Having regard to the apprehension expressed by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the respondents may demolish the structures in the event of an adverse order being passed, without giving his clients an opportunity of availing further remedies, which apprehension cannot be said to be wholly without basis, it is directed that if an adverse order is passed in the revision petition, no action for demolition of the existing structures shall be taken for a period of two weeks from the date of service of order in the revision petition on the petitioners. ____________________ C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy.,J Date : 16-12-2010 Note : Furnish copy in (2) days. AM