HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. NAGARJUNA REDDY C.R.P.Nos.2705, 2710, 2713, 2720, 2721, 2722, 2723 & 2753 of 2014 Date : 11-9-2014 C.R.P.No.2705 of 2014 Between:
Rapolu Pentaiah ..
Petitioner And The Assistant Commissioner, Endowments Department, Boggulakunta, Hyderabad and another .. Respondents Counsel for petitioner : Sri C. Damodar Reddy Counsel for respondent No.1 : Assistant Government Pleader for Endowments Counsel for respondent No.2 : Sri Ch. Satish Kumar, Standing counsel The Court made the following:
COMMON ORDER This batch of Civil Revision Petitions arises out of separate but identical orders dated 3-9-2013 in the Interlocutory Applications filed in the Original Applications filed by the respondents under Section 83 of the A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions & Endowments Act 1987, (for short "the Act") on the file of the A.P. Endowments Tribunal, Hyderabad (for short “the Endowments Tribunal”). By the above mentioned orders, the Endowments Tribunal directed the petitioners to deposit amounts ranging between Rs.3500/- per month to Rs.35,000/- per month with effect from 1-6-2012 till disposal of the O.As. towards damages for use and occupation of the property.
At the hearing, Sri C. Damodar Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioners, submitted that his clients did not even have notice of hearing of the Interlocutory Applications and also the orders passed by the Endowments Tribunal for a long time and that therefore they had no opportunity of contesting the applications filed by the respondents. He has further submitted that the trial of the O.As. was at advanced stage and that there was absolutely no justification for the Endowments Tribunal to award interim damages at that stage. He has also submitted that each petitioner is in possession of small extents ranging between 2 to 5 guntas and that the order directing payment of the above mentioned amounts till disposal of the O.As. causes serious hardship to the interests of the petitioners.
The learned Assistant Government Pleader for Endowments and Sri Ch. Satish Kumar, learned Standing Counsel for Endowments, representing respondent No.2, requested the Court to confirm the order of the Endowments Tribunal.
I have carefully considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties.
The fact that O.As. filed by the respondent for eviction of the petitioners were at the trial stage when the impugned interim orders were passed is not in dispute. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that the Endowments Tribunal ought to have disposed of the O.As. instead of passing interlocutory orders during the midst of the trial. Be that as it may, since the petitioners are allegedly encroachers, which allegation is however strongly refuted by them, this Court is inclined to put them on reasonable terms. Accordingly, the petitioners are directed to deposit Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only) each in one lumpsum to the credit of the Assistant Commissioner, Endowments Department, Boggulkunta, Hyderabad, within one month from today, who shall keep the same in short term interest yielding fixed deposit. On production of proof of deposit of these amounts, the Endowments Tribunal shall permit the petitioners to participate in the eviction proceedings and dispose of the same on merits after hearing the petitioners.
Subject to the above modification of the orders of the Endowments Tribunal, the Civil Revision Petitions are partly allowed.
As a sequel to the disposal of the Civil Revision Petitions, CRPMP Nos.3745, 3749, 3752, 3763, 3764, 3765, 3766 and 3805 of 2014 filed in the respective Civil Revision Petitions for interim reliefs are disposed of as infructuous.
Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy Date : 11-9-2014 AM