Balla Satyanarayana, vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh,
2021 Latest Caselaw 5340 AP

              HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATHI

                       MAIN CASE No.W.P.No.12888 of 2021


                                       PROCEEDING SHEET

Sl.No     DATE                                                                  Office
                                             ORDER

Note 17.12.2021 RRR, J

I.A.No.2 of 2021 and Rev.I.A.No.3 of 2021

The petitioners, who are cultivating Ac.3.27 cents of land belonging to the 4th respondent-temple had sought to assail the auction conducted by the said temple in W.P.No.12888 of 2021. This writ petition was disposed of by this Court on 29.07.2021 permitting the petitioners to match the highest bid of Rs.3,98,000/- as annual lease amount for the years 2021-2022 to 2023-2024.

The petitioners have now filed I.A.No.2 of 2021 seeking leave to file review petition and I.A.No.3 of 2021 to review the order dated 29.07.2021.

The contention raised in these applications is that the landless poor certificate issued by the Mandal Revenue Officer, Tadepalli, at page No.70 of the writ petition, had not been taken into account and that the said certificate would suffice to demonstrate that the petitioners are entitled to protection under Section 82 of the A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 (for short 'the Act').

Section 82 of the Act provides protection to landless poor persons to continue as the tenants of the land belonging to endowment institutions. A landless poor person has been defined under explanation to Section 82 (2) as - a person, who is holding a total extent of land either as owner or as a cultivating tenant, which does not exceed Ac.2 ½ of wet land and Ac.5.00 of dry land.

A.P. Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Lease of Agricultural Land Rules, 2003 sets out, in Rule-3, the manner in which a tenant is to be determined as a landless poor person. This Rule requires the Assistant Commissioner having territorial jurisdiction to enquire into and decide whether a cultivating tenant is a landless poor person as defined under Section 82 of the Act.

In the present case, an application had been made by the petitioners to the Assistant Commissioner, Endowments to be recognized as landless poor persons and the same had been dismissed. The certificate issued by Mandal Revenue Officer is wholly in violation of the scheme of the Act and the Rules.

In the circumstances, non-consideration of the certificate said to have been issued by the Mandal Revenue Officer of the area does not, in any manner, amount to an error in the judgment which requires a review.

Accordingly I.A.No.2 of 2021 and Rev.I.A.No.3 of 2021 are dismissed.

_________ RRR, J Js.