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1995 Supreme(AP) 216

Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : LINGARAJA RATH, S.R.NAYAK
Gajuwaka Gram Pranchayat - Appellant
Versus
Medisetti Venkata Suryanarayana - Respondent
L.P.A.No.109 of 90
Decided On : 04-18-95
Advocates Appeared :
Mr. M. Prabhakar Rao,M.S.R. Subrahmanyam

Headnote:AP INAMS (ABOLITION AND CONVERSION INTO RYOTWARI) ACT, 1956, as amended by Amendment Act, 20 of 1975, Secs 2-A, 3 and 14 and AP (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948 Mokhasa land in an estate under Estates Abolition Act is no an inam land - Such Land does not vest in Government Civil Court has jurisdiction to entertain suit against Gram Panchayat for declaration and for peaceful possession of such land

       HELD: Sec2-A of the Inam Abolition Act would obviously operate prospectively to vest only such lands which continue to enjoy the inam character on the date when the Section comes into force and cannot be resorted to vest lands which had ceased to be of that nature and sold as such much prior to the section coming into force

       It is undoubtely true that Section 14 of the Inam Abolition Act ousts the jurisdiction of the civil court to set aside or modify any decision of the Tahsildar, the Revenue Court or the Collector under that Act unless the decision has been obtained by misrepresentation, fraud or collusion of parties Hence if there was, in fact, any decision of the Tahsildar under Sec 3 of that Act holding the land as inam, the decision could not have been varied by the civil court But, no such decision of the Tahsildar was ever placed in evidence and that too in spite of the objection taken in that regard by the respondents The question before the civil court was hence not setting aside or modifying any decision of the Tahsildar regarding determination of any land as inam The appellant-defendant did not take any steps to establish the inam character of the lands to have been decided The jurisdiction the civil court hence was not ousted to entertain the suit

LINGARAJA RATH, J.

( 1 ) THE defendant in the suit viz. , Gajuwada Gram Panchayat, represented by the Executive Officer, Gram Panchayat, Gajuwaka, is the appellant before us. The suit was brought by the respondents claiming to have succeeded to the suit property on the strength of a will executed by their father who, they claim, purchased the property by two registered sale deeds dated 7-4-1964 and 15-7-1968 from one A. V. Bhanoji Rao. It is their case that though the land was being enjoyed peacefully after the purchase, yet the Grampanchayat was creating interference and obstructions to their possession and it has occupied the land for which they filed the suit for eviction and delivery of vacant possession of the land i. e. , Survey No. 72/5 in Gajuwaka village corresponding to old Survey Nos. 58 and 59 measuring to an extent of Acs. 2-79 cents. The suit was contested by the Gram Panchayat claiming the land to be inam land determined to be so under the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act (Act XXXVII of 1956) (hereinafter referred to as inam Abolition Act ) and to have vested free of all encumbrances in the state Government. The Collector had granted the Gram Panchayat permission to construct office buildings on the land by proceedings R. Dis. No. 137/79 dated 6-1-1979. It denied for the respondents to have any title or interest with the property. The suit was decreed by the learned trial Court which was confirmed in appeal by the learned Single Judge of this Court. In the appeal the findings were reached that the land in question was not an inam land under the Inam abolition Act; that it was a Mokhasa land which is estate under the Andhra pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari Act, 1948 (XXVI of 1948) (hereinafter referred to as The Estates Abolition Act ). The other findings reached were that even if the land is treated as tank-bed or local fund tank, yet it does not get vested under the Inam Abolition Act since the provision of suo motu vesting of such land in the State Government was provided in Section 2-A of the Inam Abolition Act which came into force only in June, 1975 by the Amending Act 20 of 1975 which had no retrospective effect. The land in question having been sold to the father of the plaintiffs-respondents much prior to that, no vesting took place in respect of the lands. A further conclusion was also reached that long before Section 2-A of the Inam Abolition act came into force, the land had ceased to be a poramboke or tank-bed.

( 2 ) THE learned Counsel for the appellant has assailed before us the judgments contend ing firstly that the finding that the land was estate under the estates Abolition Act was reached beyond the pleadings of the parties as it was not the case of either of the parties; secondly that the land, being inam land, had vested free of all encumbrances in the State Government and the District collector, being the authorised person to permit the Gram Panchayat to construct upon the land, the non-impleading of the State Government as party to the suit makes the suit had for non-joinder of necessary party; thirdly that the civil Court has no jurisdiction to decide the nature or tenure of the land as it is inam land, the question is solely entrusted to the Tahsildar under the Inams abolition Act; fourthly that the plaintiffs had not obtained ryotwari patta either under the Inams Abolition Act or under the Estates Abolition Act and lastly that the matter should be remanded to the trial Court for proper determination as to whether the land is inam land or not.

( 3 ) SO far as the first submission is concerned, it has no force as the respondents had come with the suit claiming the title to the land in them and seeking recovery of possession. It was not necessary for them to have pleaded the land as inam land or as estate under the Estates Abolition Act. It is not their case that the land being estate under the Estates Aboli







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