State Of A.P. & Anr vs T. Yadagiri Reddy & Ors

2. Five respondents, namely, (1) Shri T. Yadagiri Reddy, (2) Shri T. Bal Reddy, (3) Shri T. Janardhan Reddy, (4) Shri T. Mohan Reddy, (5) Shri T. Satyanarayana Reddy are the sons of Late Shri T. Papi Reddy. According to them, the said Late Shri T. Papi Reddy was a protected tenant from (1) Late Shri Khaja Shakhir Hussain, (2) Shri Khaja Nasir Hussain, (3) Smt. Razia Sultana W/o Mir Sadath Ali. It is the case of the respondents, as seen from their Counter affidavit that at the commencement of A.P. (Telangana Area) Tenancy & Agricultural Lands Act, 1950 (hereinafter called "the Tenancy Act" for short) and more precisely, on 10.6.1950, their father Late Shri T. Papi Reddy was deemed to be the protected tenant of the land, admeasuring 123 Acres 17 guntas, bearing Survey Nos. 18 to 24 (old), i.e., new Survey Nos. 24 to 30 and 39 of Meerpet Revenue Village, Saroornagar Mandal, Rangareddy District, Andhra Pradesh. This land belonged to Late Shri Khaja Shakhir Hussain and others, who were the Jagirdars of that Village. Their father Late Shri Papi Reddy entered into an agreement on 25.2.1956 with Late Shri Khaja Shakhir Hussain and others for transfer of land holders' interest in the said land to the tenants Late Shri T. Papi Reddy himself and the present respondents. The respondents asserted that this was under the provisions of Section 38-A & B of the Tenancy Act. They further pleaded that there was oral partition between Late Shri T. Papi Reddy and his sons, i.e., respondents, in which lands stood divided and that included also the concerned land to the extent of 123 acres 17 guntas, comprising of Survey Nos. 24 to 30 and 39. According to the respondents, the whole land was divided into six equal 3 shares. They then pointed out that on 1.1.1975, A.P. Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 (hereinafter called "the Ceiling Act" for short) came on the anvil. Under the provisions of that Act, Late Shri T. Papi Reddy, as also the present respondents filed six separate declarations regarding the land owned and possessed by them and these declarations included the aforementioned Survey numbers also, which were obtained by them in their capacity as the protected tenants. It is the further case of the respondents that a Verification Report in respect of the declarations made by the respondents and Late Shri T. Papi Reddy were verified by the Verification Officer and the same Report was submitted to the Land Reforms Tribunal I-cum-Additional Revenue Divisional Officer (hereinafter called `the Tribunal) of Ranga Reddy District, appointed under the Ceiling Act. This was on 31.7.1975 and 8.8.1975. In between 14.8.1975 and 22.10.1975, six orders came to be passed by the Tribunal. The dates and the other details of these Revenue cases, dealt with by the Land Reforms Tribunal, were as under:-

The respondents pointed out that this order was completely oblivious of the six orders passed in case of Late Shri T. Papi Reddy and themselves, shown in the Table nor did they (Late Shri T. Papi Reddy and the respondents herein) join as parties to the proceedings. It was further pointed out that on 6.2.1996, a public notice was issued by the Tribunal, Ranga Reddy District, calling for the objections in declaring Survey Nos. 24 to 30 and 39 as the surplus land, as held by Late Shri Khaja Shakhir Hussain and others. However, Late Shri T. Papi Reddy had already expired on 21.11.1975, i.e., barely one month after the order in his case was passed. On 13.2.1996, the respondents filed the objections to the proposal of the said Survey Nos. 24 to 30 and 39, being surrendered as a surplus land.

The Tribunal rejected the objections filed by these respondents by order dated 22.7.1995 (2.3.1996), against which they filed an appeal on 11.8.1997 before the Land Reforms Appellate Tribunal-cum-II Additional 5 District Judge, Ranga Reddy district at Saroornagar, Hyderabad, A.P. By its order dated 9.9.1997, the Appellate Tribunal partly allowed the appeal only to the extent of 33 acres and 12 guntas in the aforementioned Survey Numbers, while the said appeal was rejected in respect of the remaining extent of 90 acres of land. That order was challenged by way of a Civil Revision Petition before the High Court, being Civil Revision Petition No. 4351 of 1997 and the said order was set aside by the High Court by the impugned order. The respondents, therefore, claimed that they were protected tenants and there was no question of the land comprising of 3 Survey numbers, being declared as surplus and it had long ceased to be the land of Late Shri Khaja Shakhir Hussain and others, and they had become the full owners of that land. In short, they claimed that they had purchased the said land in the capacity of the protected tenants in terms of Section 38 of the Tenancy Act. They further pleaded that if the proceedings under the Ceiling Act concerning them had become final, as such, those orders had become res-judicata against the State. They also pointed out that after the death of their father Shri T. Papi Reddy in the year 1975 and even before that they had partitioned the land and all through, they were treated to be the protected tenants earlier and thereafter, the land holders. They relied on substantial Revenue record in support of their status as the protected tenants, as also the Certificates issued by the Revenue Department under Section 38-E of the Tenancy Act, signifying their exclusive nexus with the land to the exclusion of the original land holder.

It is on this basis, that the Tribunal closed the case.

November 28, 2008.