IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT HYDERABAD FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AND THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH TUESDAY, THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND FOURTEEN Present HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION No.30617 of 2014 Between:
K. Balasubramanyam, S/o. K. Pedda Subbanna, Aged 64 years, R/o. D.No.3/738, Up Stairs, Sai Nagar, YMR Colony, Proddatur Town & Mandal, Kadapa District.
.. Petitioner AND The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by the Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad & 4 others .. Respondents The Court made the following:
HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION No.30617 of 2014 ORDER:
The claim of the petitioner is that he is the absolute owner and possessor of house property bearing H.No.3/0, to an extent of 95 square yards, in Ward No.3, Survey No.311 of Proddatur Village Fields, YMR Colony, Proddatur Municipality, YSR Kadapa District. The petitioner purchased the said property on 29.03.1995 from Shaik Rohan Valli and his wife vide registered Sale Deed No.2349 of 1995. The vendor of the petitioner purchased the same on 12.03.1969 vide registered Sale Deed No.693 of 1969. With an intention to dispose of the property, when the petitioner approached the Sub-Registrar, Proddatur, YSR Kadapa District (5th respondent) requesting him to furnish Market Value Certificate, the Sub-Registrar issued a Market Value Certificate, dated 19.08.2014, stating that the subject land is prohibited form registration as the property to an extent of Ac. 14.42 cents in Survey No.311, is ‘Mangala Inam’ (Government land) as in the list communicated by the District Collector in his Ref.No.PDTCell/1392/2008, dated 17.02.2010, and, therefore, it is prohibited from alienation and, therefore, no market value can be assessed. Aggrieved thereby, this writ petition is instituted.
2. On instructions, the learned Assistant Government Pleader submits that since the land is classified as ‘Mangala Inam’, it is a Government land and, therefore, prohibited from being alienated. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that no such objection was raised earlier when the properties were registered. Merely because the revenue records disclose the land as ‘Mangala Inam’, it cannot be treated as a Government land and, therefore, the rejection of the request of the petitioner was illegal.
3. In support of his contention, the learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on the decision of this Court in W.P.No.35473 of 2013, dated 21.08.2013, wherein a similar objection was raised in the said writ petition and the property was also classified as ‘Mangala Inam’. In the facts of the case averred in the affidavit, this Court found that the petitioner were in possession for more than 60 years and, therefore, merely based on the opinion given by the Tahsildar, the Sub-Registrar cannot treat the property as Government land, more particularly, when no notification was issued under Section 22-A(2) of the Registration Act, 1908. Consequential directions were issued to the Sub-Registrar to receive and register the document. However, the right of the Government to claim the property was preserved. Similar view is taken by this Court in several other writ petitions. In W.P.No.15169 of 2009, which was also a case of classifying the land as ‘Kummara Inam’, this Court construed the provisions of Section 22 of the Registration Act, 1908, and held as under:
“In the light of the aforestated provision, the prohibition with regard to registration of documents in respect of Government lands arises out of the publication of a notification under clause (e). Admittedly, there is no notification under Section 22-A of the said Act in respect of Survey No.250 of Proddatur Village. In the absence of a prohibition relatable to law, it is not open to the revenue authorities to stall the registration of documents by the registration authorities on the basis of a mere communication based on revenue records. The classification of the subject land in Survey No.250 basing on such revenue records posing a bar to the entertainment for registration of the document presented by the petitioner cannot be countenanced. If the Government seeks to assert its title over the subject land contrary to the evidence manifested by the registered transactions dating back to 1955, it is for them to do so in a properly constituted proceeding before the appropriate forum. By mere recourse to an entry in the R.S.Register, Proddatur, the Government cannot seek to wipe out the events borne out by record and claim title.”
4. Following the above decisions, the Writ Petition is disposed of directing the Sub-Registrar, Proddatur, YSR Kadapa District (5th respondent) to furnish the market value of the house property of the petitioner bearing H.No.3/0, to an extent of 95 square yards, in Ward No.3, Survey No.311 of Proddatur Village Fields, YMR Colony, Proddatur Municipality, YSR Kadapa District, and to receive and process the Deed of Conveyance as and when the same is presented by the petitioner in accordance with the Registration Act, 1908, and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. However, it is open to the Government to assert its title by following the due process of law and mere registration of Deed of Conveyance does not take away such right of the Government to establish its title. There shall be no order as to costs. Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this writ petition, shall stand closed.
P.NAVEEN RAO, J Date: 14th October, 2014 KL HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION No.30617 of 2014 Date: 14th October, 2014 KL