IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD FRIDAY, THE FIFTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE SRI ANIL R. DAVE, THE CHIEF JUSTICE And HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No : 23679 of 2006 Between: Bhadrachalam Town People, Khammam District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Mr. Sasi Bhushan Kumar, IAS, District Collector & Agent to Government, 2 Ms. Yogita Rana, Sub-Collector & Sub Agent to Government, Bhadrachalam, Karimnagar District, 3 Mr. Nageswara Rao Mandal Revenue Officer, Bhadrachalam, 4 Executive Officer, Gram Panchayat, Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, A.P. 5 The Then Collectors, The Sub-Collectors, RDO, MRO's Worked form the period 1970 to till date 2006. 6 The Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh, Social Welfare, Tribal Welfare Department, .....RESPONDENTS 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 issue an Order, direction, or a Writ, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus to call for the records and remarks from the Respondents herein in and connected to (i) to take action against the Respondents for non implementing agency Act 1/70 (Land Transfer Regulation Act) in Bhadrachalam Town; (ii) encouraging non tribal for migration to come and settle in the Bhadrachalam Agency are by developing colonies, roads and amenities; (iii) evacuating the non-tribals from the river Godavari Bank areas to Devasthanam Lands for the construction of Flood Bank to protect the Bhadrachalam pilgrim shrine; (iv) changing the name of the Gram Panchayats as Bhadrachalam Township and authorising the executive oﬃcer to collect the developmental charges for the newly constructed buildings without according permission (more enumerated in the Petition); and this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass appropriate orders directing the concerned authorities to take action and punish all the concerned oﬃcers for violating the agency Act 1/70 (Land Transfer Regulation Act) in Bhadrachalam Town and demolish the houses of non tribals and drives them away from the densy area to plain areas and also establish check post at outskirt of the agency Bhadrachalam to allow only tribals to enter into it for strict implementation of this Agency Act. All the voter list on the non tribals who arrived after 1970 should be deleted from the voters list and to pass such other or further orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner:PETITION Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : HON'BLE SRI ANIL R. DAVE, THE CHIEF JUSTICE And HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No : 23679 of 2006 ORDER : (Per Hon’ble Sri Anil R.Dave, CJ) A letter received by the Registry of this Court on 10th November 2006 from the residents of Bhadrachalam Town of Khammam District, was treated as a public interest litigation. In the letter, several grievances have been made. One of the important grievances pertains to not taking action under the provisions of A.P. (Scheduled Areas) Land Transfer Regulations, 1959, read with Regulation 1 of 1970 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Regulations’). It has also been submitted in the letter that non-tribals should not be allowed to settle in Bhadrachalam agency area. In pursuance of the notices issued by this Court, respondent-Government authorities have ﬁled reply. On perusal of the reply, it appears that as many as 14,274 cases had been ﬁled prior to 31st of January 2007, out of which, 12,716 cases have already been decided, whereby lands have been restored to the Tribals. Hence, it appears that appropriate action has been taken by the Government authorities. So far as the averments pertaining to encroachments into the agency areas are concerned, the petitioners have not given necessary details. In absence of any speciﬁc averment made in the letter, it is difficult to deal with the said aspect. Looking to the facts of the case and upon perusal of the counter aﬃdavit ﬁled by the Government authorities, it appears that appropriate actions are being taken by the Government authorities, and, therefore, we do not see any reason to keep this petition pending. It is, however, observed that if any instances of violation of the afore-stated Regulations is brought to the notice of the Government authorities, we are sure the Government authorities shall take due care and shall dispose of those cases in accordance with law. Writ petition is accordingly disposed of. _________________ ANIL R. DAVE, CJ 5th September 2008 ______________________ R. SUBHASH REDDY, J ajr