IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 25812 of 2000 Between: 1 Tupili Radhakrishnaiah S/o.Dharmaiah Naidu Superintendent, Zilla Parishad, Nellore, R/o.25 II/588, Savithri Nagar, Nellore-4. 2 Karavadi Subba Rao S/o.Chenchal Rao Municipal High School, R.V.Nagar, R/o. 25 II/589, Savithri Nagar, Nellore. 3 Nellipudi Venkata Krishnaiah S/o. late N.Lakshmaiah 25 II-606, Savithri Nagar, Nellore. 4 Dasari Kistamma W/o.Ramana Reddy R/o.25 II-605, Savithri Nagar, Nellore-4. 5 Sri Ram Prasad, Sri Ram Satyanarayana S/o.Peraiah R/o.25 II-509, Savthri Nagar, Nellore. 6 M.Sivakumar S/o.Sarjanamma R/o.25 II-508, Savithri Nagar, Nellore. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Executive Engineer, R&B., N.H.Division, Gudur, Nellore District. 2 The District Collector, Nellore. 3 The Mandal Revenue Officer Nellore. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.A.PHANI BHUSHAN FOR MR.D.LINGA RAO Counsel for the RespondentS: AGP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : ORDER: This writ petition is ﬁled for a Writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in seeking to demolish the petitioners’ houses bearing Nos.25-II/588, 25-II/589, 25-II/606, 25-II/605, 25-II/509 and 25-II/508 of Sy.Nos.2040 and 2041 situated in Savithri Nagar, Nellore Municipality, without issuing notice and following due process of law, as illegal and arbitrary. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and perused the record. 3. The record shows that when certain persons ﬁled a complaint about the encroachments on G.N.T. Road, N.H-5 from KM.167 to 168 in Nellore Town, the Lokayukta passed an order on 06.07.2000 wherein he referred to a letter, dated 11.07.1995, of the Commissioner, Nellore Municipality, informing that the Revenue Department assigned house site pattas to the individuals in Sy.Nos.2040 and 2041 of Nellore Bit-I during 1970, that after approval of layout vide L.P.No.277/81 by the Director of Town and Country Planning, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, plots were allotted to the individuals and that subsequently some of the plot owners have already constructed pucca buildings, thatched huts and structures upto basement level. It is also stated in the said letter that the Town Surveyor reported that there were no encroachments in the road margin as alleged in the complaint. Having regard to the contents of the said letter, the Lokayukta closed the complaint with a direction to the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Nellore (described as P.S.1) to convene a joint meeting along with respondent Nos.1 and 2 herein and thrash out whether the road margins are covered by plots allotted to the individuals or not and that if any encroachments are found, they are liable to be removed. 4. The grievance of the petitioners is that without any notice to them, the respondents are seeking to remove part of their houses by making markings thereon. 5. No counter aﬃdavit is ﬁled by any of the respondents. However, the ﬁle contains a purported counter aﬃdavit by a person by name A.Rami Reddy, who described himself as “complainant/petitioner”. He has not entered his appearance or is represented by any counsel. It is not understood as to how the pleading ﬁled by such a person has reached the record. Be that as it may, the grievance of the petitioners looks innocuous. All that they want is a notice and opportunity to show that they constructed their houses in the sanctioned layout area and have not encroached the road margin. Even if the respondents found that the petitioners have encroached the road margin, it is obligatory on their part to give notices to the petitioners before taking any action to demolish the structures raised by the petitioners. 6. The writ petition is, therefore, disposed of with a direction to the respondents not to dispossess the petitioners or demolish the structures raised by them, without notice and opportunity of hearing them. _______________________ C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J 15.10.2008 v v