B. SUBHASHAN REDDY, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioner in the instant writ petition prays for issuance of a writ of Mandamus declaring the letter issued by the second respondent-Municipal Corporation of hyderabad vide letter No. 187/tp3/ 2000-441, dated 26-8-2000 as arbitrary and illegal and violative of Section 429 (1) (aa) of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporations act, 1955 and bye-law No. 4 (2) of the building bye-laws. The petitioner consequently prays for issuance of an appropriate direction directing the municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to grant permission as prayed for in building permit File No. 187/tp3/2000.

( 2 ) THE Municipal Corporation of hyderabad (MCH) through the impugned letter rejected the application of the petitioner for the proposed construction of stilt for parking + 5 upper floors for residential apartments consisting of Blocks a to D at premises No. 1-1-365/a, situated at Bakaram, Hyderabad. In the impugned letter, it is stated that the proposals of the petitioner were examined and placed before the Building Committee held on 4-8-2000 and as per the observations of the Building committee, the Joint Collector, Hyderabad has informed that the site under reference is a Government land.

( 3 ) BEFORE adverting to the question as to whether the impugned order suffers from any legal infirmity, it may be necessary to notice a few relevant facts leading to filing of this writ petition: according to the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, originally one S. Rajeshwar Rao and M. K. Mudaliar were the partners of the petitioner-company. Both of them have purchased an extent of Ac. 4. 32 guntas of land out of survey Nos. 118 to 133 of nampally village, Hyderabad District under a registered sale deed dated 6th khurdada 1353 Fasli (9th April, 1944) from the original owner and pattedar Haji Mohd. Azeez s/o. Hazi Mohd. Osman. The said two persons have transferred the said property in the name of M/s. The hyderabad Potteries Limited through a registered sale deed dated 11th Amardad 1355 Falsi (31-3-1946 ).

( 4 ) THE erstwhile Hyderabad State government acquired a portion of land in survey Nos. 118 to 133 in two spells admeasuring Ac. 15. 05 guntas and Ac. 11. 35 guntas for the purpose of construction of houses known as Ldbour Quarters under the provisions of Hyderabad Land acquisition Act. Awards were passed under the Land Acquisition Act and the matter ultimately came up to this Court in c. C. C. A. Nos. 19 of 61 and 36 of 1961. However, it is claimed that the property of the petitioner company was not acquired by the Government even though the property is located in Survey Nos. 118 to 133. The petitioner company continues to be in possession and enjoyment of the land. According to the petitioner, whether the land is in the Nampalli village sivar or bakaram village sivar will not affect the ownership of the land.

( 5 ) THE MCH assigned house numbers for the factory and adjoining premises located in the said lands. They are 1-1-365, 1-1-365/a etc. The land covered by the petitioner company has been converted from industrial use to residential use vide g. O. Ms. No. 467, Municipal Administration, dated 25-8-1992. The Hyderabad Urban development Authority (HUDA) issued consequential proceedings in pursuance of the said governmental order as is evident from the HUDA letter No. 12529/huda p5/98, dated 24-11-1998. The property tax is being collected by the MCH.

( 6 ) THE petitioner-company filed a declaration under Section 6 (1) of the Urban land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (for short the ULC Act ) before the Special officer and Competent Authority and the same was numbered as C. C. No. H1/2432/76. The petitioner-company applied for and obtained exemption under section 20 (1) (a) of the ULC Act vide g. O. Ms. No. 2560 Revenue (UCIII), dated 11-6-1980 subject to certain terms and conditions mentioned therein.

( 7 ) THE petitioner-company in the meanwhile became defunct and failed to utilise the lan

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