IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION Nos.16953 and 20578 of 2008 WRIT PETITION No.16953 of 2008 Between: Mudraboina Rajamouli S/o.Kanakaiah Penchikalpet(V) Elkathurthy(M) Karimnagar District ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Tahasildar, Elkathurthy Revenue, Mandal Karimnagar District 2 The Joint Collector, Karimnagar District at Karimnagar 3 Cheni Bhagyalakshmi W/o.Sannaiah H.No.8-7-221,Kothy Rampur Karimnagar District .....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 a writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the of the Respondent Nos.1 and 2 herein in not initiating any proceedings for eviction of the 3rd respondent herein from the assigned land to the extent of Ac 4-00 out of Sy.No.282/1 situated at Penchikalpet(V) Elkathurthy(M) Karimnagar District pursuant to proceedings No.B/3269/2004 dt.28-01-2005 on the ﬁle of the 1st respondent herein as illegal arbitrary and contrary to provisions of AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition on Transfers) act 1977 and the Rule made thereunder and consequently direct the 1st the respondent herein to restore assigned land to extent of Ac 4.00 out of Sy.No.282/1 situated at Penchikalpet(V) Elkathurthy(M) Karimnagar District in accordance with provisions of AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition on Transfers) act 1977 Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.T.RAMULU Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 and 2: GP FOR REVENUE Counsel for the Respondent No.3: Mr.I.LAKSHMIKANTHARAO WRIT PETITION No.20578 of 2008 Between: Chenni Bhagyalakshmi W/o. Sammaiah R/o. H.No. 8-7-221, Kothi Rampoor, Karimnagar, Karimnagar District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The Joint Collector, Karimnagar Karimnagar District. 3 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Karimnagar, Karimnagar District. 4 The Tahsildar O/o. Mandal Revenue Officer, Revenue Mandal, Elkathurthy Mandal, Karimnagar District. 5 Mudraboina Rajamouli S/o. Kanakaiah R/o. Penchikaklpet Village, Elkathurthy Mandal, Karimnagar District. .....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 a writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ order or direction by declaring in action of the respondents for not disposing the appeal and stay petition ﬁled by the petitioner on 5-9-2008 against the Orders passed by the 4th Respondent in his Procs. No. B/3269/2004 dt. 28-1-2005 for canceling the petitioners assigned land an extent of Ac 4-00 gts situated in Sy.o. 282/1 of Penchikalpet Village, Elkathurthy Mandal, Karimnagar District. consequently direct the respondent No.3 to dispose of the appeal and stay petition dt. 5-9- 2008 in the interest of justice and pass Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.I.LAXMIKANTHA RAO Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: GP FOR REVENUE Counsel for the Respondent No.5: MR.T.RAMULU The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION Nos.16953 and 20578 of 2008 COMMON ORDER: Since the issues involved in both these writ petitions are intrinsically connected, they are heard and disposed of by this common order. While W.P.No.16953 of 2008 is ﬁled by one Rajamouli seeking a direction to respondents 1 and 2 viz., the Tahsildar, Elkadurthy Mandal and the Joint Collector, Karimngar to restore possession of the assigned land to an extent of Ac.4.00 in Sy.No.282/1 situated at Penchikalpet Village, Elkadurthy Mandal, Karimnagar District after evicting Respondent No.3 (Cheni Bhagyalaxmi) from the said land, W.P.No.20578 of 2008 is ﬁled by the said Cheni Bhagyalaxmi questioning the action of the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer, Karimnagar, in not disposing of the appeal or the stay petition ﬁled by her against the orders passed by the 4th respondent Tahsildar, Elkadurthy Mandal canceling the transfer of the subject matter of the land in her favour. The undisputed facts leading to ﬁling of these two writ petitions are that originally the subject matter of land was assigned in favour of the writ petitioner in W.P.No.16953 of 2008. It is his case that in the year 1999, the 3rd respondent in W.P.No.16953 of 2008 who is the petitioner in W.P.No.20578 of 2008, got transferred the said land in her favour illegally towards the debt rendered to him in the year 1999 for Rs.50,000/-. Thereafter, on his representation seeking cancellation of the transfer and restoration of possession of the said assigned land, the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Elkathurthy issued a notice to the 3rd respondent and ultimately the said transfer order was cancelled vide order dated 28.1.2005 eﬀecting necessary changes in the revenue records and a direction was also issued for handing over possession to him. His grievance is that in spite of the said directions, possession was not handed over to him. The case of the petitioner in W.P.No.20578 of 2008 is that she purchased the subject matter of the land in good faith by paying valuable consideration and that she is not aware that the said land is a government land and that the revenue authorities also have not raised any objection while transferring the said land in her favour in the year 1999 when she purchased the same and pattadar pass books and title deeds were issued by the authorities after verifying the transaction. It is further stated that she is not aware of the impugned orders passed by the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer ordering for cancellation and restoration. It is stated that in the suit ﬁled by the petitioner in W.P.No.16953 of 2008 seeking perpetual injunction restraining herself and her husband from interfering with possession of the subject matter of land, though the court below granted injunction orders, they were set aside in appeal and ultimately the said suit was dismissed as withdrawn and hence, she is entitled for the land in question. Admittedly, during the pendency of the suit, the original assignee, the petitioner in W.P.No.16953 of 2008 filed a representation before the Mandal Revenue Officer, pursuant to which, according to the petitioner, enquiry was conducted and the impugned orders were passed. However, aggrieved by the said orders, the petitioner in W.P.No.20578 of 2008 ﬁled an appeal before the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer, Karimnagar along with an application for stay. Since no orders were passed by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Karimnagar, the third respondent filed W.P.No.20578 of 2008. Counter-aﬃdavits have been ﬁled by the Government as well as by the un-official respondents. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Government Pleader for Revenue. The learned Government Pleader for Revenue submits that since against the cancellation orders, the petitioner in W.P.No.20578 of 2008 has already ﬁled an appeal along with the stay petition and the same are still pending, instead of this court going into the merits of the matter, the appellate authority may be directed to dispose of the appeal itself, for which course of action, both the petitioners agreed. In the circumstances, without going into the merits of the matter, the writ petitions are disposed of with a direction to the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer, Karimnagar to consider and dispose of the appeal ﬁled by the petitioner in W.P.No.20578 of 2008 as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order and till such time, status quo obtaining as on today shall be maintained. N.V. RAMANA, J Date: 10.11.2008 va/pnb