HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No.95 of 2009 Date : 25.11.2011 Between : Garlapti Irmiah. …..Petitioner And State of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department & others. …..Respondents HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. SUBHASH REDDY WRIT PETITION No.95 of 2009 ORDER : This writ petition is ﬁled, seeking directions by way of Mandamus, declaring the action of respondents 1 to 5 in deciding to convert the hill and grazing poramboke land admeasuring Ac.449.80 cents covered by Field Number 8 of Sangapuram village, and the consequential steps to assign the same in favour of respondents 6 and 7, as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions under the A.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. It is the case of petitioner that he is a permanent resident of Sangapuram village of Donakonda Mandal in Prakasam District. It is stated that there is land to an extent of Ac.449.80 cents, covered by Field Number 8 in Sangapuram village, which is classiﬁed as hill and grazing poramboke. In this writ petition, it is the grievance of the petitioner that though said land is required for grazing the cattle of Veerepalli and Sangapuram villagers, steps are being taken by respondents 1 to 5 for conversion of said land, so as to assign it in favour of respondents 6 and 7. The Tahsildar of Donakonda Mandal has ﬁled counter aﬃdavit. In the counter, it is stated that land to an extent of Ac.452.44 cents in Sangapuram village is classiﬁed as Konda Poramboke and it belongs to Government. It is stated that most of the said land is occupied by encroachers, who are cultivating the crops like tobacco, redgram and castor oil since long back. It is stated that on 26.11.2008, some of the villagers belonging to a backward class, have given a representation, requesting for grant of assignment pattas to them to the extent of the lands they have been cultivating in Sy.No.8 of Sangapuram village. The allegation of petitioner that a decision was taken by the Assignment Committee to assign the land in favour of respondents 6 and 7, is denied by the respondents. It is stated that selection of beneﬁciaries for grant of assignment pattas is in the purview of the Assignment Committee headed by the local Constituency MLA as Chairman and the Revenue Divisional Oﬃcer concerned as Convenor, and that the said Committee has not taken any decision to assign the Government poramboke land in favour of respondents 6 and 7. It is stated that about 100 acres of land is being cultivated by the villagers of Sangapuram village and its hamlet village i.e. Veerepalli, and a further extent of more than 250 acres is vacant and is covered with hills and rocky soil, which is being used for grazing purpose. From the counter aﬃdavit ﬁled on behalf of respondents, it is clear that the land in question is not yet converted from hill and grazing poramboke. It appears, certain representations are made by persons belonging to a backward class and others, who are in occupation of the land in question, for assigning it to them, but at the same time, no steps have been taken so far for assignment. If the land is already in occupation of third parties, which is being used for cultivation, it cannot be construed as a vacant grazing land, so as to use it for grazing purpose. Even according to the counter, there is still vacant land of 250 acres, which is covered by hills and rock soil and is being used for grazing purpose. As much as the land in question is not yet converted and as no decision has been taken to assign the land to respondents 6 and 7, as alleged by the petitioner, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition, permitting the petitioner to ﬁle his objections, if any, on conversion of the land in question, before respondents 2 and 3, within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of this order. If any such objections are ﬁled by the petitioner, respondents 2 and 3 are directed to consider the same whenever there is a move for conversion of any part of the said land in Sangapuram village from grazing poramboke to any other category. Subject to the above direction, this writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. ______________________ R. SUBHASH REDDY, J 25th November 2011 ajr