THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.16505 OF 2008 DATED 15th FEBRUARY, 2011 BETWEEN: Meka Sitharamaiah … Petitioner A n d The District Collector, Krishna, Machilipatnam, And others. …Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.16505 OF 2008 O R D E R The petitioner claims to have purchased separate extents of land in R.S.No.160/4, Avanigadda, Krishna District. While so, it is his case that the Tahsildar, Avanigadda Mandal, Krishna District, third respondent, issued notices dated 19.09.1996 and 27.09.2006 calling upon him to produce his documents in connection with the said land. The petitioner claims to have submitted a detailed explanation on 27.09.1996 and also attended a personal hearing on 01.10.1996 setting out his case that the land in question was his private land. When the Taluk Legal Services Authority, Avanigadda, passed an ex parte order against the petitioner directing the third respondent to remove the obstruction allegedly made by him on the public road, the petitioner approached this Court by way of W.P.No.1382 of 1997 and this Court, by order dated 16.06.1997, held that the order of the Legal Services Authority was beyond its functions as enumerated under Section 11-B of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 and accordingly set it aside. While so, the petitioner stated that one Boppana Dasaradharamaiah submitted a representation to the Avanigadda Gram Panchayat raising the same issue with regard to obstruction of the public road by the petitioner and pursuant thereto, the instructions, the District Panchayat Officer, Krishna District, is stated to have called for a report from the Gram Panchayat. Apprehending that the revenue authorities and the Gram Panchayat would remove the constructions made by him without notice, the petitioner approached this Court by way of the present writ petition seeking a direction to the respondents not to interfere with his property, being an extent of Ac.0.10¼ cents in R.S.No.160/4, Avanigadda, Krishna District. This Court, by interim order dated 30.07.2008, directed status quo obtaining as on that date to be maintained. This order of status quo was extended until further orders by the subsequent order dated 25.08.2008. Boppana Dasaradharamaiah and Repalle Panduranga Rao, claiming interest in the issue raised in the writ petition, got impleaded in this writ petition as Respondents 5 and 6. Relevant to note, the petitioner himself made a mention of Boppana Dasaradharamaiah in his affidavit, stating to the effect that the said person had made a representation to the Gram Panchayat, Avanigadda. He however did not choose to implead him in the writ petition. While so, vacate stay applications being WVMP Nos.3130 of 2008, 3446 of 2008 and 5893 of 2010 were filed by the Avanigadda Gram Panchayat, Krishna District, the revenue officials and the impleaded respondents 5 and 6 respectively, to vacate the order of status quo granted by this Court. With the consent of the counsel, the main writ petition itself is taken up for disposal. It is the stand of the revenue officials in their counter that when survey and sub-division work in R.S.No.160/4 of Avanigadda Village was taken up pursuant to the application of the Gram Panchayat Secretary, Avanigadda Village, the petitioner raised a dispute claiming that the land in R.S.No.160/4 belonged to him. Upon perusal of his documents, the Mandal Surveyor found that there was no evidence therein that the petitioner had purchased the disputed site and that the same was shown as the boundary for the site purchased by him. On the other hand, the petitioner’s vendor is stated to have sold an extent of Ac.0.04 cents to the Gram Panchayat under registered sale deed dated 16.05.1984 for the purpose of formation of an approach road. This land which was intended for a pathway was alleged to have been occupied by the petitioner, causing obstruction for passage. The Gram Panchayat, in its counter, alleged that the petitioner was occupying the road margin in R.S.No.160/4 at Avinigadda Village and had constructed a wall obstructing the passage. The Gram Panchayat reiterated the revenue officials’ stand that even as per the documents produced by the petitioner he had no title over the road portion. It further stated that in anticipation of the proposed removal of the obstruction the petitioner approached this Court by way of the present writ petition. The Gram Panchayat affirmed that any encroachment and obstruction would be removed by following the due process of law only. It concluded by stating that the writ petition was premature, as no action had been initiated by it for removing the encroachment as yet. Respondents 5 and 6 claimed that owing to the obstruction of the passage by the petitioner, ingress and egress to their lands was adversely effected. The aforesaid facts reflect that the petitioner approached this Court without any tangible cause of action. The revenue authorities had undertaken a survey in R.S.No.160/4 of Avanigadda Village, Krishna District, upon the Gram Panchayat’s request and owing to the negative report of the Mandal Surveyor with regard to the petitioner’s claim over the disputed site, he appears to have approached this Court straightaway, apprehending that the authorities would take action against him in respect of the disputed site. As pointed out by the Gram Panchayat in its counter, it is yet to initiate action against the petitioner for removal of any obstruction or encroachment. Needless to state, under Section 98(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the Gram Panchayat would be required to put the petitioner on notice prior to any action for removal of an encroachment or obstruction. It is the case of the Gram Panchayat also that it would follow the due procedure prior to initiating any action for removal of the obstruction allegedly caused by the petitioner in R.S.No.160/4, Avanigadda Village. It would be open to the petitioner to respond to the Gram Panchayat’s notice and establish his claim that the disputed site belongs to him. The writ petition was therefore premature and effectively stalled all further proceedings in the matter. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of directing the respondent authorities to follow the due procedure laid down by law in the context of removal of obstruction and encroachments, if any, made by the petitioner in R.S.No.160/4 of Avanigadda Village, Krishna District. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs. -------------------------- SANJAY KUMAR,J 15th FEBRUARY, 2011 PGS THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.16505 OF 2008 15th FEBRUARY, 2011