IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWELFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 19616 of 2002 Between: B.Das and three others ..... PETITIONERs AND The Commissioner of Appeals, Office of the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, A.P.Hyderabad and another. .....RESPONDENTs THE HON’BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI W.P.NO.19616 2002 ORAL ORDER The petitioners herein claim to be the son and daughters of one B.Balaiah who died prior to the commencement of the Urban Land (Ceiling And Regulation) Act 1976( for brevity “the Act”). Thereafter the mother of the petitioners by name B.Satyamma filed a statement under Section.6(1) of the Act declaring the vacant land in her possession. Pursuant thereto, the 2nd respondent-the Special Officer and Competent Authority, Hyderabad passed an order dated.21-09-1995 under Section.8(4) of the Act holding that the declarant Smt.B.Satyamma was a surplus holder to an extent of 3778.45 square meters. Aggrieved by the same though Smt.B.Satyamma along with the petitioners herein filed an appeal under Section.33 of the Act, the same was dismissed by the 1st respondent by order dated.26.07.2001. The said order of the 1st respondent dated.26-07-2001 confirming the order of the 2nd respondent dated.21-09-1995 is under challenge in this writ petition . A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondents justifying the impugned orders. However, when the matter is taken up for consideration it is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that in view of the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Repeal Act,1999 which was adopted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh w.e.f 22-04-2008 the impugned orders passed by the 1st and 2nd respondents ceased to be in force. The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Repeal Act,1999(Central Act 15/1999) under which the Urban Land (Ceiling And Regulation) Act,1976 was repealed, has been adopted in the State of Andhra Pradesh by passing a resolution by the A.P. State Legislature on 27-03-2008 and accordingly the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Repeal Act,1999 has come into force in the State of Andhra Pradesh w.e.f.27.03.2008. Subsequently, the Government of Andhra Pradesh issued certain instructions vide Circular Memo dated.24-04-2008 with regard to the implementation of the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Repeal Act,1999. On a combined reading of the Central Act 15 of 1999 together with the instructions issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh it is clear that all pending cases in different stages under Sections.8(1), 8(4), 10(1), 10(3) and Section.10(5) shall stand abated. As noticed above in the present case the 2nd respondent passed an order under Section.8(4) of the Act determining the surplus land held by the mother of the petitioners. The appeal against the said order was dismissed by the 1st respondent by order dated.26-07-2001. When the petitioners challenged the said order in this writ petition, this Court while directing rule nisi on 07-10-2002 ordered that status quo with regard to possession shall be maintained. In the counter-affidavit filed by the 2nd respondent it is stated that the notification under Section.10(1) of the Act was published on 07-12- 1995 and the declaration under Section.10(3) of the Act was published on 21-12-2001 and the notice under Section.10(5) of the Act was also issued on 09.09.2002. It is true that as per Section.10(3) of the Act the excess vacant land shall be deemed to have been acquired by the State Government from the date of the declaration under sub-Section.(1) of Section.10 of the Act and the same shall be deemed to have vested absolutely in the State Government free from all encumbrances. However sub-Section.(5) of Section.10 provides that where any vacant land is vested in the State Government under sub-section (3), the competent authority may order that the person in possession shall surrender the possession to the State Government within thirty(30) days of the service of the notice. As could be seen from the counter-affidavit, such notice under sub-section (5) of Section.10 was issued in the present case on 09-09- 2002. However prior to that by order dated.07-10-2002 this Court ordered status quo with regard to possession. Thus it is clear that the petitioner continued in possession. In the circumstances the Repeal Act 15 of 1999 is applicable and accordingly the writ petition is disposed of declaring that the impugned orders passed by the 1st and 2nd respondents dated.26.07.2001 and 21-09-1995 respectively ceased to be in force. No costs. _____________ G.ROHINI,J 2ND December,2008 *TSNR