The Hon'ble Sri Justice C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy
Writ Petition No.36402 of 2012
27.11.2012
S.Shankaraiah and 4 others
The District Registrar, Adilabad District and 5 others
^Counsel for the petitioners: Sri C.Naresh Reddy
!Counsel for the respondents: AGP for Revenue
<Gist:
>Head Note:
?Cases referred:
Order:
The inaction of respondent No.2 in refusing to register the land
admeasuring Acs.30-00 guntas in Survey No.277/1 of Bhutkur Village, Khadem
Mandal, Adilabad District, is assailed in this Writ Petition.
An extent of Acs.60-00 guntas of Government Land in Survey No.277/1 of
Bhutkur Village was permitted to be assigned in favour of one Mohammed Yousuf,
who was an ex-serviceman vide Government Memo No.1-2-III/3801/60-1, dated 21-12-
1960.
In pursuance thereof, respondent No.5 issued proceeding No.G/3920/63,
dated 06-06-1963, assigning the land in favour of the said person subject to the
condition of his paying a total amount of Rs.3,000/- (Rs.50/- per acre) payable
in 20 instalments in terms of G.O.Ms.No.1070, dated 20-06-1961.
After the
death of the original assignee, his son viz., Mohd Ibrahim succeeded thereto.
Out of the entire extent of Acs.60-00 guntas of the assigned land, an extent of
Acs.30-00 guntas was sold to one Sama Ananthaiah by Mohd.Ibrahim and the
remaining extent of Acs.30-00 guntas was continued in his possession.
When Mohd.Ibrahim was sought to be dispossessed from the Acs.30-00 guntas
of land in his possession, he has filed WP.No.11996 of 1996, which was disposed
of by this Court, by Order, dated 25-06-1996, with a direction to the
respondents therein not to dispossess the petitioner from the land in question
without following the due process of law.
Thereafter,
proceedings for resumption
under the provisions of the A.P.Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act,
1977 (for short 'the Act'), were initiated in respect of the said Acs.30-00
guntas of land. The said proceedings culminated in passing of an order of
resumption on the ground that the said land was in possession of one person
viz., G.Narayan Reddy in contravention of the provisions of the Act.
Assailing
the said order, Mohd.Ibrahim filed WP.No.25289 of 1997. The said Writ Petition
was allowed by this Court by Order, dated 14-02-2007.
This Court, on
appreciation of the facts, held that the assignment made in favour of the
original assignee did not contain the same conditions, which were made
applicable to the assignments made to the landless poor persons and that
therefore, the provisions of the Act were not attracted. This Court has taken
note of the further fact that the assignment was made as per GO.Ms.No.1070, 20-
06-1961, and that in the absence of any clause relating to prohibition of
alienation containing therein, the assignment did not fall within the provisions
of the Act.
This Court has, thus, allowed the said Writ Petition and set aside
the resumption order, dated 07-09-1997.
With regard to the balance Acs.30-00 of land, which was sold to
Ananthaiah, when the revenue authorities refused to mutate the lands in favour
of the legal heirs of the said Ananthaiah, they have filed WP.No.10082 of 1992
wherein a similar plea was raised by the legal heirs of Ananthaiah as was raised
by the son of the original assignee in WP.No.25289 of 1997.
This Court disposed
of the said Writ Petition by Order, dated 14-06-2004, with the direction to the
District Collector, Adilabad, to hold a comprehensive enquiry on all aspects and
pass appropriate order as to the entitlement of the petitioners therein for
patta and for the consequential action of mutation in the revenue records.
The
petitioners have filed report, dated 07-01-2011, of respondent No.6 addressed to
respondent No.5 wherein he has inter alia stated that the then Tahsildar,
Kaddam, has issued pattadar passbooks and title deeds to the legal heirs of
Ananthaiah in pursuance of the registered sale deed, dated 22-04-1965.
In spite
of the above noted facts, which clearly reveal that
the land assigned to the ex-
servicemen on market value was not treated as a regular assignment within the provisions of the Act 9 of 1977
and the specific declaration by this Court to
that effect by order, dated 14-02-2007, in WP.No.25289 of 1997, the revenue
authorities are still treating the land in question as regular assignment
prohibiting its alienation. Having regard to this stand of the revenue
officials, respondent No.2 has been refusing to register the documents. By this
unreasonable action of the respondents, the petitioners, who were stated to have
purchased the subject property under an agreement of sale from the legal heirs
of Ananthaiah, are prevented from registering the sale deeds. This, in my
opinion, is wholly without justification. The overzealous attitude of the
revenue officials and the registering authorities even in cases of this nature
has been causing untold hardship to the citizens. This is one such case where
despite the unequivocal pronouncement of this Court, the respondents are still
maintaining a very unreasonable stand that the subject land is an assigned land
containing prohibition on alienation. Such an attitude on the part of the
respondents is not only leading to avoidable litigation but also causing severe
harassment to the general public. It is time that the Principal Secretaries,
Revenue and Stamps & Registrations, take stock of the situation and issue
appropriate instructions to the revenue officials and the registering
authorities not to object to or refuse registrations in a routine and mechanical
manner without there being legally sustainable reasons for such
objections/refusals.
Subject to the above observations, the Writ Petition is allowed.
Respondent No.2 is directed to receive the documents that may be presented by
the petitioners and register the same subject to the latter complying with the
provisions of the Registration Act, 1908, and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
As a sequel, WPMP.No.46237 of 2012, filed by the petitioners for interim
relief, is disposed of as infructuous.
______________________
(C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy, J)
27th November, 2012
