HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No.25462 of 2009 ORDER: Heard Sri O. Manohar Reddy, Learned Counsel for the petitioner and the Learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare. At their request, the Writ Petition is being disposed of at the stage of admission. The relief sought for in this Writ Petition is to declare the action of the 1st respondent in not passing any order, in the stay application filed by the petitioner along with his appeal on 05.06.2008, as arbitrary and illegal and for a consequential direction to stay the order of the 2nd respondent dated 14.02.2008 till disposal of the appeal by the 1st respondent. In his order dated 14.2.2008, the 2nd respondent held that the petitioner had contravened Section 3(1)(a) of the A.P. Scheduled Areas Land Transfers Regulations, 1959 as amended by Regulation 1 of 1970. The 2nd respondent directed that possession of land be taken from the petitioner. The 4th respondent was also directed to take possession of the property. Aggrieved thereby the petitioner carried the matter in the appeal to the 1st respondent. He also filed an application seeking stay of execution of the order passed by the 2nd respondent. It is his grievance that, though the appeal was filed as early as on 05.06.2008, the first respondent had neither passed orders on the stay application nor had issued any notice with regards hearing of the appeal and that the 4th respondent, in the interregnum, was taking steps to dispossess the petitioner from of the property in question. The A.P. Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulations 1959 provides for an appeal against the order passed by the 2nd respondent Special Deputy Collector to the first respondent Project Officer Tribal Development Agency. Failure on the part of the 1st respondent to hear and decide the stay application at the earliest may well result in the petitioner being dispossessed thereby rendering the very provision for an appeal and the stay application wholly illusory. I consider it appropriate, therefore, to direct the 1st respondent to dispose of the stay application, filed by the petitioner along with his appeal, within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. Pending disposal of the stay application, the order of the 2nd respondent shall not be given effect to. The Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. No costs. ____________________________ Date: 03.06.2010 RAMESH RANGANATHAN,J MRKR