IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT HYDERABAD FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AND THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH FRIDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND FOURTEEN Present HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION No.19190 of 2014 Between:
Siddineni Durgamma @ Durga W/o. Vemiah, Aged 57 years, Occ: Household, R/o. Koppuravuri Village, Peddakakani Mandal, Guntur District.
.. Petitioner AND The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department (Registration and Stamps), Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad & 5 others .. Respondents WRIT PETITION No.19325 of 2014 Between:
Repalle Lakshmi Paravathi, W/o. Nagaraju, Age: 38 years, Occ: Household, R/o.H.No.16-17-58, Near Satyanarayana Swamy Temple, Old Guntur, Guntur District.
.. Petitioner AND The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department (Registration and Stamps), Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad & 5 others .. Respondents WRIT PETITION No.19583 of 2014 Between:
Parakandla Ramadevi, W/o. Srinivasa Rao, Age: 36 years, Occ: Household, R/o. Chagantivaripalem, Muppala Mandal, Guntur District.
.. Petitioner AND The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department (Registration and Stamps), Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad & 5 others .. Respondents AND WRIT PETITION No.19688 of 2014 Between:
Tirumalasetty Ajith Kumar, S/o. Late Sambaiah, Age: 36 years, Occ: Agriculture, R/o. Koppuravuru Village, Pedakakani Mandal, Guntur District.
.. Petitioner AND The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department (Registration and Stamps), Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad & 5 others .. Respondents The Court made the following:
HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION Nos.19190, 19325, 19583 & 19688 of 2014 COMMON ORDER:
With the consent of the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader, the writ petitions are disposed of at the admission stage.
2. Land to an extent of Ac. 5.00 cents in Survey No.119/5 of Koppuravuru Village in Guntur District was assigned to Shaik Bude Saheb of Guntur in the year 1929. Shaik Bude Saheb sold this land by a Deed of Conveyance registered on 20.04.1938 in favour of Parakandla Kotaiah to an extent of Ac. 2.50 cents and Koppuraju Subbaiah to an extent of Ac. 2.50 cents. Koppuraju Subbaiah sold his extent of land to Parakandla Kotaiah by a registered Sale Deed, dated 16.08.1943. Thus, by 16.08.1943, Parakandla Kotaiah became owner of Ac. 5.00 cents of land. By a registered Sale Deed, dated 08.07.1971, he sold Ac. 1.00 cents to Vanama Venkateswar Rao and one more Acre was also sold to Siddineni Vemaiah in the year 1974. Remaining Ac. 3.00 cents was succeeded by his daughters i.e., Ac. 1.50 cents to Vinnakota Tulasamma and Ac. 1.50 cents to Tirumalasetty Parvathamma.
Vinnakota Tulasamma in turn gifted Ac. 0.75 cents each to her two daughters Repalle Lakshmi Paravathi and Parakandla Ramadevi, who are petitioners in W.P.Nos.19325 of 2014 and 19583 of 2014. Tirumalasetty Parvathamma in turn gifted her share of land in favour of Tirumalasetty Ajith Kumar, who is petitioner in W.P.No.19688 of 2014. Vanama Venkateswar Rao sold land to Siddineni Vemaiah in the year 1975. After his death, his wife Siddineni Durgamma succeeded to the said property, who is petitioner in W.P.No.19190 of 2014. All the petitioners intend to dispose of the land in Survey No.119/5. When the petitioners presented Deeds of Conveyance before the Joint Sub-Registrar, Pedakakani, Guntur District (5th respondent), the Joint Sub-Registrar assigned P.No.31/2014 (W.P.No.19190 of 2014), P.No.28/2014 (W.P.No.19325 of 2014), P.No.29/2014 (W.P.No.19583 of 2014) and P.No.30/2014 (W.P.No.19688 of 2014). After scrutinizing the documents, by order, dated 25.06.2014, he refused to register the Deeds of Conveyance on the ground that as per the information furnished by the Tahsildar, Pedakakani Mandal, Guntur District (6th respondent), this land is classified as prohibited land and, therefore, no Deeds of Conveyance can be processed. Aggrieved thereby, this writ petition is instituted.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that assignment was made to Shaik Bude Saheb in the year 1929 and thereafter, there have been several transactions. Assignment made prior to 1954 is not prohibited from alienation. No objection was raised by the revenue authorities when Deeds of Conveyance were registered continuously from the year 1938. The revenue authorities have never objected to possession and enjoyment of the property. Therefore, the revenue authorities and the registering authority cannot raise an objection for registration of Deeds of Conveyance at this distance of time. Learned counsel for the petitioners further submits that the principle of law is well settled that there is no bar for alienation of the lands which were assigned prior to 1954 and, therefore, the title of the land was validly passed on to Parakandla Kotaiah through whom all the petitioners have subsequently acquired the properties.
4. Learned Government Pleader furnished written instructions given by the Tahsildar, Pedakakani, Guntur District (6th respondent). The Tahsildar admits the factum of the entry made in the RSR that land to an extent of Ac. 5.00 cents in Survey No.119/5 was assigned to Shaik Bude Saheb by the then Tahsildar in the year 1929. Thus, admittedly in 1929, land was assigned to Shaik Bude Saheb. Government introduced bar against alienation of lands assigned to the landless poor for the first time in the year 1954. Therefore, the assignment made after 1954 is barred from alienation. As the facts on record would disclose that such assignment was made in the year 1929 and in turn, the assignee sold the land as early as in the year 1938 and, therefore, the title was validly passed on to Parakandla Kotaiah as early as in the year 1938. Thus, merely because the revenue records continue to reflect the status of the land as ‘assigned’, cannot be a ground to deny the sale of property at this distance of time. As rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioners, no objection was raised when sales took place in the years 1938, 1943, 1971, 1974 and 1975 and when Gift Deeds were also registered. The possession and enjoyment of the petitioners or their predecessors in interest were never under challenge.
5. Having regard to the facts on record, the objection raised by the Joint Sub-Registrar, Pedakakani, Guntur District (5th respondent) is not valid and it is, accordingly, set aside and the Writ Petition is, accordingly, allowed directing the Joint Sub-Registrar to process the Deeds of Conveyance bearing P.No.31/2014 (W.P.No.19190 of 2014), P.No.28/2014 (W.P.No.19325 of 2014), P.No.29/2014 (W.P.No.19583 of 2014) and P.No.30/2014 (W.P.No.19688 of 2014) in accordance with the Registration Act, 1908, and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, and if the said documents are otherwise in order, he shall register and release the documents within a period of two (2) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 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: 25th July, 2014 Note: C.C. in one (1) week. (B/o.) KL HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE P.NAVEEN RAO WRIT PETITION Nos.19190, 19325, 19583 & 19688 of 2014 Date: 25th July, 2014