IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWELFTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO : 17222 of 2001 Between: Padala Bapu S/o Narsaiah R/o Rangapur Village, Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Peddapalli, Karimnagar District. 2 Thota Ramakka @ Ramamma W/o Late Pochaiah Rompikunta, V/o Kamanpur Mandal, Karimnagar District. 3 Pasala Vasantha W/o Bhoomachandra R/o Rangapur Village,Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District. .....RESPONDENT(S) 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 to issue any appropriate Writ, order or diection preferably a Writ in the nature of Mandamus declaring the action of the Respondent No.1 in assisining the land bearing Sy.No.248-A situate at Rangapur Village, Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District as illegal, arbirary and opposed to the principles of natural justice and consequently cancel the assignments and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.I.AGA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR ASSIGNMENT The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.17222 OF 2001 ORAL ORDER: This writ petition is ﬁled challenging the action of the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Peddapalli, Karimnagar District, the ﬁrst respondent herein, in assigning the lands in Survey No.248-A of Rangapur Village, Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District. The petitioner claims to have entered into an agreement of sale dated 03.07.1998 with Thota Ramakka, the second respondent herein, in respect of the land admeasuring Ac.7.34 guntas in Survey No.248-A of Rangapur Village, Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District. It is his claim that in pursuance of the said agreement of sale he was placed in possession of the said land. It is further stated that owing to the inaction of the second respondent in receiving the balance consideration and executing a sale deed in his favour, the petitioner ﬁled a suit seeking speciﬁc performance of the agreement of sale. The said suit being O.S. No.2 of 2001 on the ﬁle of the Senior Civil Judge, Peddapalli, is still pending. While so, the grievance of the petitioner is that the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Peddapalli, was taking steps to grant pattas under Board Standing Order No.21 in respect of the subject land. The said action is questioned before this Court on the ground that the ﬁrst respondent had resorted to this action at the behest of the second respondent and the same was not sustainable in law in view of the pendency of the litigation initiated by the petitioner with regard to his rights over the subject land. This Court by order dated 18.08.2001 granted interim stay of all further proceedings in pursuance of the assignment made by the ﬁrst respondent in respect of the subject land. The said order was made absolute by the order of this Court dated 19.07.2002. A counter aﬃdavit is ﬁled by the ﬁrst respondent stating that the petitioner was not in actual physical possession of the subject land as per records. The ﬁrst respondent claimed ignorance of the transaction between the petitioner and the second respondent and the litigation pending in this regard. It is his case that the second respondent submitted an aﬃdavit along with a petition on 21.11.2000 stating that she was the absolute owner and possessor of the subject land and expressed her intention to relinquish her rights over the said land in favour of the Government so that the same could be used for a public purpose. After due enquiry in this regard and conﬁrmation of the fact that the second respondent did not have any legal heirs, the second respondent was permitted to execute a Relinquishment in Form-C on 01.12.2000 under the provisions of the A.P. (Telangana Area) Land Revenue Act, 1317- F. It is stated that the possession of the land was taken over and the land was assigned under house site pattas to various eligible beneﬁciaries. The Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Peddapalli, reiterated that the petitioner was not in possession of the subject land as per local enquiry and as per records and therefore the question of his dispossession therefrom did not arise. In the light of the averments made by the respective parties, as reﬂected above, it is manifest that there is a dispute as to whether the petitioner was put in actual physical possession of the subject land. This dispute is not amenable to resolution in a writ petition ﬁled under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the petitioner lays a claim to the subject land basing on the agreement of sale dated 03.07.1998 whereas the ﬁrst respondent claims rights through a relinquishment deed said to have been executed on 01.12.2000. It is stated that the petitioner’s suit for speciﬁc performance of the agreement of sale dated 03.07.1998 is still pending consideration on the ﬁle of the Senior Civil Judge, Peddapalli. Irrespective of the factum of whether or not the possession was delivered to the petitioner under the agreement of sale dated 03.07.1998, the rights asserted by him thereunder require to be adjudicated by the Civil Court in the pending suit. It would not be open to the ﬁrst respondent to assert rights under the document dated 01.12.2000 in the meanwhile. Such action on the part of the ﬁrst respondent would leave the petitioner remediless in the event of his success in the suit hereafter. It would therefore be necessary to protect and safeguard the property in its present position pending disposal of the suit. In that view of the matter, it is not open to the ﬁrst respondent to assign the subject land to landless persons at the present stage, which would virtually have the eﬀect of wiping out the rights of the petitioner, if any, under the agreement of sale dated 03.07.1998, which is the subject matter of the pending suit. Accordingly, there shall be a direction to the ﬁrst respondent not to assign the lands admeasuring Ac.7.34 guntas in Survey No.248-A of Rangapur Village, Peddapalli Mandal, Karimnagar District and to await the result of the pending litigation between the petitioner and the second respondent in O.S.No.2 of 2001 on the ﬁle of the Senior Civil Judge, Peddapalli. The writ petition is disposed of with the above direction. There shall be no order as to costs. _________________________ P.V.SANJAY KUMAR, J. 12th November, 2008. VGSR