Disposed

U.V. Krishnam Raju v. the State of Ap

Andhra Pradesh HC6 Feb 2020WP/1759/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

This Writ Petition challenges the conversion of public land (Puntha) to house sites for distribution under a government scheme without following the mandatory statutory procedure of divesting the land from the Gram Panchayat. The court held the procedure incomplete and issued a direction.

What did the court decide?

Direction to respondents not to assign the land to any third parties without following the lawful procedure of issuing a notification under Section 58(2) of the Panchayat Raj Act.

U.V. Krishnam Raju Vs the State of Ap — Land Acquisition | Andhra Pradesh HC (2020)

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THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE M. SATYANARAYANA MURTHY WRIT PETITION NO.1759 OF 2020

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ORDER:

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This petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to issue a Writ of Mandamus , questioning the action of the respondents in attempting to convert “Puntha” (passage) situated in R.S.No.66 of Annavaram Village, Bhimavaram Mandal, West Godavari District into house sites and distribute the same under “Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu” to the third parties depriving ingress and egress to the petitioners and other ryots to their lands on either side of “Puntha” (passage), without considering the representation made by petitioner dt.30-12-2019 in “Spandana Programme” and declare the same as illegal and arbitrary, consequently direct the respondents not to covert the land as stated above.

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It is the contention of petitioners that they are the adjacent land owners of the subject land and the respondent authorities issued a notice to the petitioners in Form A-1 under BSO 15(2) of A.P. Revenue Board Standing Orders. The proposed action of respondents is illegal and arbitrary, which will deprive ingress and egress of petitioners and other ryots to their lands on either side of “Puntha” on account of such conversion and requested to issue a direction.

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During hearing, learned counsel for petitioners reiterated the contentions urged in the petition. Whereas learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue brought to the notice of this Court that Form A-1 notice is also issued for conversion from “Puntha” to “Gramakantam” by following procedure under BSO 15(2) of A.P. Board of Revenue Standing Orders and after following necessary procedure, action shall be taken by the Government, only with a view to allot land to the landless poor persons as per the scheme of “Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu”.

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Admittedly, the land is classified as “Puntha”, which is for public use and it is covered by BSO 15(4) of A.P. Board of Revenue Standing Order and the proviso thereto specifically prohibits conversion subject to conditions and it is only meant even for expansion of road or puntha, if it is not required, it can be leased out on eksal lease basis, and at the same time there are certain limitations in Section 15(2) as to the conversion.

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Moreover, when the land is a part of village, it is deemed to have been vested on the Gram Panchayat and it is deemed to be vested in terms of Section 53 of the Panchayat Raj Act, when the land is deemed to have been vested on the Gram Panchayat. As per Section 58(2) of the Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the Government may, at any time by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, direct that any porambokes referred to in sub-section (1) shall cease to vest in the Gram Panchayat, if it is required by them for any specific purpose and thereupon such porambokes shall vest in the Government.

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Till date, no such notification in Andhra Pradesh Gazette was published by exercising Section 58(2) of the Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. Therefore, the proposed conversion of “Puntha” into “Gramakantam” by exercising power under BSO 15(2) of A.P. Board of Revenue Standing Orders, issuing a notice in Form A-1 is not sufficient. Unless notification is issued by the Government divesting Gram Panchayat of any poambokes, there cannot be any use of poramboke land for any purpose as held in Banne Gandhi and Ors. vs District Collector And Ors.¹

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A perusal of Sub-section (1) of Section 58 of the Act would show that only certain classes of lands described therein which are not required by the Government for any specific purpose shall vest in the Gram Panchayat on its constitution.

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1 2007 (4) ALD 374.

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Hence, proposed distribution or assignment of puntha poramboke land to any one by the Government without issuing any notification divesting such land from puntha is illegal as held in Sarpanch, Polakala

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Gram Panchayat, Irala Mandal, Chittoor District v. District Collector, Chittoor² .

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Thus, as on date, no such notification under Section 58(2) of the Panchayat Raj Act is issued or published divesting Gram Panchayat from the lands and vested on the Government. In the absence following such procedure, the land cannot be assigned in view of the law declared by the High Court referred above. Hence, the respondents are directed not to assign the land to any third parties, without following procedure.

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With the above direction, this Writ Petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. No costs.

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As a sequel, miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall stand closed.

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___________________________________ JUSTICE M.SATYANARAYANA MURTHY

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Date: 06-02-2020

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