IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 26153 of 2007 Between: Subodh Kumar Sanghi S/o.G.P.Sanghi, r/o. 1-3-183/40/46, plot No.36, New Bakaram, Hyderabad ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Secunderabad Cantonment Board, rep. by Chief Executive Officer, Secunderabad 2 The Director Defence Estate, Pune. .....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 of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or orders to declaring the action of the 1st respondent in classifying the property bearing Nos.1 and 2 admeasuring 479 sq.yards Karkhana lane, Secunderabad Cantonment, Secunderabad as B-3 land in the General Land Register maintained by it notwithstanding the sale of the same by the Custodian of evaquee Property under the provisions of the Administration of evaquee Property Act,1950 way back in 1957 as arbitrary illegal, and unconstitutional and to issue a consequential direction to the 1st respondent to treat the said property as a B-4 land in the General Land Register by making suitable alternation. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.V.SRINIVAS Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.DEEPAK BHATTACHARJEE The Court made the following : ORDER: This Writ Petition has been ﬁled by Subodh Kumar Sanghi with a prayer to declare the action of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, represented by Chief Executive Oﬃcer, Secunderabad in classifying the property bearing Nos.1 and 2 admeasuring 479 Square Yards, Karkhana Lane, Secunderabad Cononment, Secunderabad as B-3 land in the General Land Register maintained by it, as arbitrary and illegal. 2. The case of the petitioner as set out in the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition in brief is: 3. B.S.Laxmanachari purchased the house bearing Nos.1 and 2 admeasuring 479 square yards from the custodian of Evaquee property under the provisions of Administration of Evaquee property Act, 1950. The said Laxmanachari sold the property to Smt. Sabhia Rooﬁ and Smt. Ayesha Nayeem. The petitioner purchased the house property from Smt. Sabhia Rooﬁ and Smt. Ayesha Nayeem under a registered sale deed dated 20-1-2006. On coming to know that the property purchased by him has been shown as B-3 property in the General Land Register maintained by the Defence Estate Oﬃcer, Secunderabad, he submitted various representations for change of class of land from B-3 to B-4. His representations remained unattended and therefore, he approached this Court invoking the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. 4. Rule nisi came to be issued on 7-12-2007. An interim direction also came to be issued on the even date vide W.P.M.P.No.34110 of 2007. The 1st respondent entered appearance and ﬁled W.V.M.P.No.948 of 2008 with a prayer to vacate the interim order dated 7-12-2007 passed in W.P.M.P.No.34110 of 2007. 5. The 1st respondent ﬁled the Counter- aﬃdavit which is sworn to by V.Premchand, the Chief Executive Oﬃcer of Cantonment Board, Secunderabad. It is stated in the Counter aﬃdavit that that the property in question is a Government property. It is further stated in the Counter aﬃdavit that the property in question is classiﬁed as B-3 property and it is an old grant. Para Nos.4 and 5 of the counter-aﬃdavit need to be noted and they are thus: “I respectfully submit that the above referred writ petition is ﬁled suppressing the material facts and the approach of the petitioner is unclean. The property in question is Government property and the land upon which the construction was made belongs to Government of India. The occupancy right holder have the right to remain in possession under old grant terms. The petitioner has sought for interim direction to furnish a copy of the General Land Register (GLR) in respect of House No.1 and 2 admeasuring 479 Sq.yards of Karkhana Road, Secunderabad by altering nature of land as B-4 land in the General Land Register pending disposal of writ petition and the interim relief granted by Honourable High Court in W.P.M.P.No.34110 of 2007 in W.P.No.26153 of 2007 amounted to granting the main relief prayed for in the writ petition. The interim relief granted by Honourable High Court amounted to converting the Government of India property into a private property.” “It is humbly submitted that as per the entry in the GLR maintained by Secunderabad Board in respect of Karkhana Bazar area, the property in question is classiﬁed as B-3 property held on old grant terms. If the old grant terms of 1836 are appreciated in its proper perspective, the petitioner before the Honourable Court do not have any right to seek the main relief and also interim relief as prayed for. Any transfer of property which has taken place as referred to in the writ aﬃdavit is subject to the right of Government of India. The old grant terms of 1836 brought into existence under order No.179/1836 was upheld by the Honourable Supreme Court of India in Chief Executive Oﬃcer Vs. Somendra Kumar Vakil reported in (1999) 3 SCC at page 555. It is also humbly submitted that in the said judgment, the Honourable Supreme Court also observed that the entry in the GLR maintained by Defence Estate Oﬃcer under the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1925 can be deemed as the prima facie evidence of title of the Government of India. The fact that the entry in the GLR manifest that the property in question is classiﬁed as B-3 land is suﬃcient to manifest that the property in question is Government of India property and the occupancy holder is holding the property under the old grant terms.” 6. When the Vacate Stay petition came up for consideration, with the consent of the counsel appearing for the parties, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal. 7. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents 1 and 2. 8. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the property was originally declared as evaquee property and thereby the administration of evaquee property took custody of the same and subsequently, the administration of evaquee property put the property to auction in which Laxmanachari purchased the same and thereafter, the said Laxmanachari sold the property to Smt. Smt. Sabhia Rooﬁ and Smt. Ayesha Nayeem from whom the petitioner purchased under a registered sale deed dated 20-01-2006. Whereas it is the contention of the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents 1 and 2 that the property claimed by the petitioner is a Government property and therefore, entries recorded in the General Land Register wherein the property has been shown as B.3 category property are illegal and are liable to be corrected. 9. A fact remains that the property claimed by the petitioner was once a evaquee property and thereby the administration of evaquee property took custody of the same and put the same to auction. Such is the situation, it is impermissible for the respondents to contend that the property in occupation of the petitioner is a Government property. The representations made by the petitioner for change of category of land in General Land Register are stated to be pending. Be that as it may, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the Writ Petition giving liberty to the petitioner to submit representation to the Secretary, Ministry of Defence through Defence Estate Oﬃcer, Secunderabad for change of entry in the General Land Register with regard the nature from B-3 to B-4 category. The petitioner shall make such a representation within two weeks and thereafter, the Defence Estate Oﬃcer, Secunderabad has to forward the same to the Oﬃcer concerned who is competent to order for change of categorization of land from B-3 to B- 4 in General Land Register. 10. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs. _________________________________ Justice B. SESHASAYANA REDDY Date: 26-09-2008. Note: Issue CC in one week. BO Dvs HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE B. SESHASAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.26153 OF 2007 Dated 26-09-2008