IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT HYDERABAD FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA & THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND FOURTEEN PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR WRIT PETITION No. 21466 of 2014 BETWEEN Munni and others AND ... PETITIONERS The Government of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad and others ...RESPONDENTS The Court made the following:
ORDER:
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners; learned Government Pleader for Revenue appearing for respondent Nos.1, 2 and 4; learned Government Pleader for Home appearing for respondent Nos.3 and 5. Though the caveators are not impleaded as party respondents herein, I have heard Mr. G. Sekhar Reddy, learned counsel for the said caveators also.
2. Petitioners claim that they are in possession of various extents of lands in Survey Nos.280 to 283 and 272/1 of Govindamapalli Village, Bukkaraya Samudram Mandal, Anantpur District.
Petitioners are aggrieved by order of the Joint Collector, which is impugned herein, dated 15.07.2014 whereunder direction was given by the Joint Collector to the Revenue Dvisional Officer as well as the Tahsildar to carry out the process of eviction of encroachers on the aforesaid lands by addressing the police department and report compliance. Said proceeding is questioned by the petitioners on the ground that the said lands are not government lands and about 350 members of poor houseless families are residing on the aforesaid lands for several years and that any steps for eviction of the petitioners through the revenue and the police authorities are wholly unwarranted.
3. This court while issuing notice on admission on 30.07.2014 granted interim stay of all further proceedings.
4. Learned Government Pleader, on instructions, submits that all the aforesaid lands are not government lands, but are stated to be the lands owned by Anchala Fakruddin and A.R.Radhakrishnarao and that there are house site plots belonging to 120 members. It is also admitted in the said instructions that no Government interest is involved in the aforesaid lands as the lands belong to private persons.
5. It appears that the dispute relating to the encroachments also had earlier reached this court in W.P.No.6961 of 2011, which was filed by one of the owners i.e., Mr. A.R.Radhakrishnarao. In the said writ petition, a complaint was made that official respondents therein i.e., the police and the revenue authorities, are not taking action on the representation of the petitioner therein for removal of encroachments. This court by order, dated 18.03.2011, disposed of the said writ petition holding that though according to the said writ petitioner, he was the owner of the land, for eviction of occupants and recovery of possession, the petitioner therein has to necessarily approach the competent civil court and that no directions could be granted to the police to take action on such representation. Later, some of the encroachers have filed W.P.No.22391 of 2011 alleging that they are likely to be evicted by the revenue authorities, who were arrayed as respondent Nos.1 to 4 therein. This court in WP MP No.27332 of 2011 in W.P.No.22391 of 2011, dated 08.09.2011, passed the following order:
“Status quo as on today shall be maintained until further orders. It is made clear that this order shall not preclude either the official respondents or the unofficial respondents from taking steps to have the petitioners evicted from the lands in accordance with law.”
6. It appears that on the basis of the aforesaid order, the Joint Collector passed the impugned order directing the Revenue Divisional Officer and the Tahsildar to take police assistance to evict the alleged encroachers, who are writ petitioners in the present writ petition and thereby they have challenged the said impugned order. In the counter affidavit filed by the revenue authorities in W.P.No.22391 of 2011, it was stated that as the lands, in question therein, are treated on par with patta lands, no question of issuing notices under the A.P. Land Encroachment Act, 2005 arises.
7. It is evident from the stand taken in the counter affidavit, as noticed above; the orders of this court, referred to above; and the instructions received by the learned government pleader, that the lands, in question, are not government lands. In any case, therefore, neither the revenue nor the police authorities have any jurisdiction to take any action much less an action for eviction of encroachers as in the present case. The respective owners of the said private patta lands have to necessarily take recourse to appropriate proceedings and invoke the jurisdiction of the competent civil court, in accordance with law, and neither the revenue nor the police authorities can take any independent action against the encroachers, as is directed under the impugned proceedings of the Joint Collector. The impugned proceedings are therefore, set aside, however, with the liberty to the owners to take appropriate steps, in accordance with law, as above.
Writ petition is, accordingly, allowed. As a sequel, the miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed. There shall be no order as to costs.
VILAS V. AFZULPURKAR, J August 11, 2014 LMV