IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY THURSDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF OCTOBER, TWO THOUSAND EIGHT ONLY WRIT PETITION No.10002 OF 2002 Between: D.Dilli Naidu. ... Petitioner And The Commissioner of Endowments, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and Three others. … Respondents Counsel for the Petitioner: Sri J.Ugra Narasimha. Counsel for the respondents: AGP for Endowments. This Court made the following: ORDER:- This Writ Petition is ﬁled questioning the proposed auction of the land admeasuring Ac.0.72 and 0.28 cents of land in Survey Nos.124 and 125/1 of Krishnapuram village, Nagalapuram Mandal, Chittoor district, belonging to the respondent No.2-Temple. The petitioner claims to be the tenant in possession of the said land. His claim is based on his status as the tenant and also landless poor person. The proceedings sheet shows that on 6-6-2002 this Court permitted the auction to go on, but the same shall not be conﬁrmed. However, the said order was vacated on 30-7-2002. Sri J.Ugra Narasimha, learned counsel for the petitioner, on the basis of the oral instructions, asserts that despite vacation of the interim order, his client is in possession of the said land. Under sub-Section (1) of 82 of the A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 (for short “the Act”) any lease of agricultural land belonging to or given or endowed for the purpose of any institution or endowment, subsisting on the date of commencement of the Act, held by a person who is not a landless poor person shall stand cancelled. Under sub-Section (2) thereof, a landless poor person, who holds the land belonging to such institution or endowment, for not less than six years continuously, has a preemptive right of purchasing the said land for a consideration of 75% of the prevailing market value of similarly situated lands at the time of purchase. Under Rule 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Lease of Agricultural Lands Rules, 2003 (for short “the Rules”), the Assistant Commissioner is competent to determine whether a person is a landless poor person or not and he was the cultivating tenant as per Section 82(2) of the Act. It is not the case of the petitioner that he applied to the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner under Rule 3 of the Rules for determination of his status as a “landless poor person”. Unless his status as a “landless poor person” is decided, the petitioner cannot claim any right over land which was held by him as a lessee. Therefore, the Writ Petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to approach the Assistant Commissioner concerned under Rule 3 of the Rules for determination of his status as a “landless poor person”, provided the land has not already been sold in pursuance of the impugned notification. --------------------------- --------- C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Date:16-10-2008 MNR