IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO.1267 of 2008 Between: Seri Narasimha Reddy, S/o. Ramdas Reddy, R/o. Eedganpally, Balanagar Mandal, Mahabubnagar District. ...PETITIONER AND 1 The State of A.P. Rep by District Panchayat Officer, Mahabubnagr District. 2 The Gram Panchayat, Eedganpally Village of Balanagar Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, rep by its Secretary. 3 The Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat, Eedganpally Village of Balanagar Mandal, Mahabubnagar 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 will be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus calling for the records relating to the Memo No. A3/2592/2007, dated 26-12-2007 passed by the 1st respondent and declare the same as illegal, arbitrary and violative of the principles of natural justice and without notice. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.P.RAGHAVENDRA REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR PANCHAYAT RAJ & RURAL DEV. The Court made the following: THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO.1267 of 2008 ORDER: The petitioner is the owner of the land in Survey No.436 of Eedaganpally Village of Balanagar Mandal, Mahabubnagar District. He feels aggrieved by the memo dated 26.12.2007 issued by the District Panchayat Oﬃcer, Mahabubnagar District, the ﬁrst respondent herein. Through the impugned memo, the ﬁrst respondent directed the Panchayat Secretary, the second respondent herein, to ensure that the petitioner does not construct wall around his land, contrary to the resolution said to have been passed by the Gram Panchayat. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader for Panchayat Raj and the learned counsel for the Gram Panchayat. Even from a perusal of the impugned memo, it is evident that the ownership of the petitioner over the land is recognized. It is stated that the brother of the petitioner had donated ﬁfteen {15} feet of land for an internal road and place for construction of Gram Panchayat oﬃce. A resolution is said to have been passed by the Gram Panchayat to the eﬀect that the petitioner should leave ten {10} feet more. Such a resolution, even if passed, does not have any eﬀect on the rights of the petitioner. The Gram Panchayat cannot insist a citizen to leave any particular land for its purpose. If it needs the land for any public purpose, it has to acquire it. Further, it is not as if the petitioner is alleged to have encroached any public property. Hence, the Writ Petition is allowed and the impugned memo is set aside. It is open for the petitioner to construct compound wall around his land. _____________________ (L.NARASIMHA REDDY, J) 26th September 2008 RRB