IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY THURSDAY, THE THIRTIETH DAY OF OCTOBER, TWO THOUSAND EIGHT ONLY WRIT PETITION No.21228 of 2001 Between: Damaraju Veeranjaneya Swamy. … Petitioner And The Assistant Director of Mines & Geology, Rajahmundry, East Godavari District and four others. … Respondents Counsel for the petitioners: Sri G. Krishna Murthy. Counsel for the respondents: AGP for Revenue This Court made the following: ORDER:- This Writ Petition is ﬁled for a Writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in interfering with the petitioner’s possession and enjoyment of land admeasuring Ac.40.00 cents in Survey No.436 (Patta No.151) of Nellipudi village, Gangavaram Mandal, East Godavari District, in pursuance of letters dated 14-6-2001 and –7-2001 of respondent No.1, as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of A.P. Muttas (Abolition & Conversion into Ryotwari) Regulation 1969 (for short “the 1969 Regulation”) and Rules made thereunder. The petitioner also sought for a direction to the respondents to grant patta to him in respect of the above extent of land. Heard Sri G.Krishna Murthy, learned counsel for the petitioner; learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue; and perused the record. For the purpose of disposal of this Writ Petition it is not necessary to refer to the facts in detail. It will suﬃce to state that the petitioner earlier ﬁled Writ Petition No.703 of 2000 when the respondents threatened his possession. The said Writ Petition was disposed of by this Court by order dated 20-4-2000 with the direction to the Settlement Oﬃcer to decide the claim of the petitioner on merits for grant of ryotwari patta under the 1969 Regulation within a period of three months. After disposal of the said Writ Petition, the petitioner made a representation to the respondents on 12-5-2000 for grant of ryotwari patta. Respondent No.2, who is the Settlement Oﬃcer under the 1969 Regulation, gave endorsement dated 29-6-2000 transferring the matter to respondent No.3 by requiring the petitioner to approach him. The petitioner speciﬁcally pleaded that in pursuance of the said endorsement, respondent No.4 issued notice dated 25-7-2000 requiring the petitioner and others to attend enquiry on 27-7-2000 along with relevant records before respondent No.3; and that though the petitioner attended the said enquiry on the said date, respondent No.3 did not pass any order. The immediate grievance of the petitioner for ﬁling this Writ Petition is that while the enquiry is pending, he is not permitted to quarry the road metal over the extent of two hectares, forming part of Survey No.436. In the counter-aﬃdavit ﬁled by respondent No.4, the above-mentioned facts are admitted. It is mentioned in para 11 that the petitioner’s application for grant of patta is under process and immediately on approval of notiﬁcation under Section 13 the Settlement Oﬃcer will start enquiries and take action for grant of ryotwari pattas to the eligible persons duly examining the documents and evidence produced by them. It is also stated that the District Collector submitted the draft notiﬁcation to the Special Commissioner and Director of Settlements under Section 13 of the 1969 Regulation on 17-1-2002 to undertake settlement operations in the village and the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer, Rampachodavaram will act as Settlement Oﬃcer immediately after approval of the said notification. Though more than six years have elapsed from the time of ﬁling of the counter-aﬃdavit, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue is unable to state the present stage of the application of the petitioner. As a right to claim ryotwari patta by eligible persons is conferred under the 1969 Regulation, it is necessary for the respondents to act with expediency so that the rights of the parties are not kept in suspended animation. If no action has so far been taken for getting the draft notiﬁcation approved, the respondents shall take immediate steps in this regard. If the notiﬁcation has already been approved and an oﬃcer is named as the Settlement Oﬃcer, he shall immediately undertake the process of disposal of the applications for grant of ryotwari pattas and complete this exercise within a period of six months. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. By order dated 3-12-2001 this Court directed that status quo shall be maintained if the petitioner is in possession of the property. I ﬁnd it expedient to direct that the said order shall be continued till the disposal of the application of the petitioner for grant of ryotwari patta. ------------------------- -------------- C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Date:30-10-2008 MNR