Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Marisetti Pothu Raju vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh, on 10 April, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH: AMARAVATI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA, CHIEF JUSTICE
&
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NINALA JAYASURYA
WRIT PETITION (PIL) No.41 of 2023
(Through physical mode)
Marisetti Pothu Raju S/o. Harinadh Baba,
Hindu, Male, Age-48 years, Occ-Business,
R/o.Flat No.2-1, Lekha Vihar, Head Post Office Road,
Ramaraopeta, Tadepalligudem - 534101.
.. Petitioner
Versus
The State of Andhra Pradesh,
Rep. by its Principal Secretary,
M.A & U.D Dept., Secretariat Buildings,
Velagapudi, Guntur District, and others.
.. Respondents
ORAL ORDER
Dt: 10.04.2023
(per Prashant Kumar Mishra, CJ)
Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
2. This writ petition, in the nature of public interest litigation, has been
preferred seeking the following relief:
"For the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit, it is
hereby prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue a
writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ
of Mandamus declaring the inaction of the Respondents Nos. 2 to
5 in considering the petitioner complaints dtd. 12/04/2022,
04/05/2022 and 29/11/2022 as illegal, arbitrary, contrary to law,
violation of principles of natural justice, violation of Articles 14,
19(g) and against the Procedure in 26 of The A.P. Board of
HCJ & NJS,J
Revenue Standing Orders, consequently direct the Respondent
Nos. 2 to 5 to consider the petitioner complaints dtd. 12/04/2022,
04/05/2022 and 29/11/2022 to conduct enquiry against the illegal
construction in Government land an extent of Ac.6-07 cents in
RS.No.39/1 of Tadepalligudem, W.G. Dist., and to pass such
other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit just and
proper in the circumstances of the case."
3. The issue of encroachment of government lands/public utility lands
vested in the State, which are meant for common benefit of individuals, was
considered in detail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh v. State
of Punjab reported in (2011) 11 SCC 396, while dealing with a case of
encroachment of village pond. In the said judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme
Court, having noted its earlier decisions in M.I. Builders (P) Ltd. v.
Radhey Shyam Sahu reported in 1999 (6) SCC 464; Friends Colony
Development Committee v. State of Orissa reported in 2004 (8) SCC
733 and Hinch Lal Tiwari v. Kamala Devi reported in AIR 2001 SC
3215 (followed by the Madras High Court in L. Krishnan v. State of Tamil
Nadu [2005 (4) CTC 1 Madras]), issued the following directions as
contained in paragraph 22 of the judgment, which reads thus:
"22. Before parting with this case, we give directions to
all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare
schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram
Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/ Shamlat land and these must
be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common
use of villagers of the village. For this purpose, the Chief
HCJ & NJS,J
Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are
directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers
of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the
speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show
cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal
occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon
or political connections must not be treated as a justification for
condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession.
Regularization should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g.
where lease has been granted under some Government
notification to landless labourers or members of Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school,
dispensary or other public utility on the land."
4. Since no steps are being taken by the Government and its authorities
in protecting the government lands, despite the directions of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh (supra) as noted above, and the public
authorities are failing in their duties in protecting the government lands,
which are meant for the common use of general public, despite bringing to
their notice, public spirited persons are approaching this Court to intervene
and direct the public authorities to protect the government lands from
encroachments.
5. In a batch of such writ petitions, being W.P.(PIL).No.140 of 2022 &
batch, filed alleging inaction of the State and its authorities in protecting the
government lands of different classifications, viz., tank land/grama kantham/
burial ground/forest land/road margin/play ground/cart track/hill poramboke/
HCJ & NJS,J
coastal areas/grazing land etc., this Court, placing reliance on the judgment
of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh (supra) and the Andhra
Pradesh Gram Panchayats (Protection of Property) Rules, 2011 framed by the
State Government pursuant to the directions in the said judgment, issued the
following directions, vide common order dated 14.09.2022:
(i) The executive authority, i.e., Panchayat Secretary, of
the respective Gram Panchayats in the State shall identify the
Gram Panchayat lands, which are unauthorizedly occupied/
encroached, and take steps for removal of such encroachments
by issuing notice and providing opportunity of hearing to the
unauthorized occupants/encroachers in terms of the procedure
prescribed in Rules of 2011. This complete exercise shall be
done within a period of six months from today.
(ii) So far as the encroachments over the lands
concerning the Municipalities/Forest Department/Revenue
Department are concerned, even if no separate Rules have
been framed prescribing the procedure to be followed in the
matter of removal of encroachments over those lands, the
officials of the concerned Departments, i.e., the Departments of
Municipal Administration, Forest and Revenue, shall also
undertake and complete the exercise of identification of
unauthorized occupations/ encroachments over the lands
belonging to their respective Departments, within a period of
two months from today, and thereafter, take steps for removal
of such encroachments by following the principles of natural
justice, i.e., issuing notice and providing opportunity of hearing
to the unauthorized occupants/ encroachers, within a further
period of four months.
HCJ & NJS,J
6. Since the issue raised in this writ petition is also concerning alleged
encroachment of government land, following the judgment in W.P(PIL).No.
140 of 2022 & batch, we direct the concerned respondent authorities to
undertake and complete the exercise of identification of unauthorized
occupations/encroachments/unauthorized constructions over the subject
government land, within a period of two months from today, and thereafter,
take steps for removal of such encroachments by following the relevant rules
and the principles of natural justice, i.e., issuing notice and providing
opportunity of hearing to the unauthorized occupants/encroachers, within a
further period of four months.
7. With the above direction, this writ petition (public interest litigation) is
allowed. No costs. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand
closed.
PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA, CJ NINALA JAYASURYA, J
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