THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE ALOK ARADHE
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR
WRIT APPEAL No.1617 of 2005
JUDGMENT: (per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Alok Aradhe)
Mr. P. Ram Prasad, learned Government Pleader for
Social Welfare appears for the appellants.
2. This intra court appeal has been filed against an order
dated 18.01.2005 passed by the learned Single Judge by which
Writ Petition No.4753 of 1995 preferred by respondent No.1
herein has been allowed. In this order, the parties shall be referred to as per their ranking before the learned Single Judge.
3. The petitioner entered into an agreement for sale on 06.01.1960 by obtaining necessary permission as required under Section 47 of the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950, in respect of the lands measuring 0.14 guntas, Ac.1.03 guntas and 0.34 guntas situate in Survey Nos.4, 6 and 7/2 respectively of Ballampur Village, Utnoor Mandal, Adilabad District. The petitioner is in possession of the same. The Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas CJ & NVSK, J 2 W.A.No.1617 of 2005 Land Transfer Regulation, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1959 Regulation) was amended by Regulation No.1 of 1970 with effect from 01.12.1963 by which the transfers from tribals to non-tribals were completely prohibited. After coming into force of the amended Regulation, the petitioner got the sale deed executed in his favour on 23.03.1964 and is in continuous and uninterrupted possession.
4. The Special Deputy Collector initiated the proceeding under the 1959 Regulation for eviction of the petitioner on the ground that the same is prohibited by the amended Regulation. The show cause notice was issued to the petitioner. The petitioner thereupon submitted a reply stating that the amendment to the 1959 Regulation is prospective in nature, and prior to the amendment of the 1959 Regulation, he had entered into an agreement of sale on 06.01.1960.
5. The Special Deputy Collector however by an order dated 05.08.1977 ordered eviction of the petitioner from the lands in question. The said order was affirmed by the appellate authority as well as the revisional authority. The petitioner CJ & NVSK, J 3 W.A.No.1617 of 2005 thereupon assailed the orders passed by the competent authority, appellate authority and revisional authority under the 1959 Regulation by way of a writ petition. The learned Single Judge has allowed the writ petition preferred by the petitioner.
In the aforesaid factual background, this appeal has been filed.
6. Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the sale deed was registered after the 1959 Regulation was amended and therefore the transfer is prohibited by the amended Regulation. It is further submitted that the decision of Full Bench of this Court in Gaddam Narsa Reddy and others v. Collector, Adilabad District 1 has no application to the facts of the case.
7. We have considered the submissions made by the learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare and perused the record.
1 AIR 1982 AP 1 (FB) CJ & NVSK, J 4 W.A.No.1617 of 2005
8. The Full Bench of this Court in Gaddam Narsa Reddy (supra) while considering the impact of amended Regulation has held that the amendment to the Regulation, which prohibits the transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals, with effect from 01.12.1963, is prospective in nature. It has further been held that whether an agreement is in consonance with the provisions of the Stamp Act cannot be considered by an authority under the provisions of the 1959 Regulation while passing an order of eviction.
9. Section 2(g) of the 1959 Regulation, which defines the expression 'transfer', is quoted below for the facility of reference.
'Transfer' means mortgage with or without possession, lease, sale, gift, exchange or any other dealing with immovable property, not being a testamentary disposition and includes a charge on such property or a contract relating to such property in respect of such mortgage, lease, sale, gift, exchange or other dealing."
10. From a perusal of aforesaid Section 2(g) of the 1959 Regulation, it is evident that it includes an agreement for sale also. The petitioner had admittedly entered into an agreement CJ & NVSK, J 5 W.A.No.1617 of 2005 of sale on 06.01.1960. The 1959 Regulation was amended with effect from 01.12.1963 prohibiting the transfer from tribals to non-tribals. The aforesaid amendment of the Regulation is prospective in nature and therefore does not apply to the case of the petitioner. In any case, the petitioner's case is not covered by the provisions of the amended Regulation. The learned Single Judge therefore has rightly set aside the orders passed by the competent authority, appellate authority and revisional authority.
11. For the aforementioned reasons, we do not find any ground to interfere with the order dated 18.01.2005 passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No.4753 of 1995.
12. In the result, the appeal fails and is hereby dismissed.
Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed. There shall be no order as to costs.
___________________ ALOK ARADHE, CJ ________________________ N.V. SHRAVAN KUMAR, J th 11 SEPTEMBER, 2023.
kvni