P. A. CHOUDHARY, J.

( 1 ) THESE two second appeals are against two decrees passed in O. S. No. 1301 of 1971 and O. S. No. 965 of 1971 both on the file of the District munsiff Court, Guntur and confirmed in the first appeals by the District judge, Guntur. O. S. No, 1301 of 1971, which is a more comprehensive suit was filed by one Narasaiah in a representative capacity against the State of Andhra Pradesh, represented by the Dist. Collector, Guntur, Pedavadlapudi gram Panchayat, V. Narasimhaswamy, Anne Narasimha Rao, the tahsildar, Guntur and other villagers, who had impleaded themselves as party defendants. O,s. No. 965 of 1971 was filed earlier by the same plaintiff. O S. No. 1301 of 1971 is a suit in substance for a declaration that the land covered by Demarcation Nos. 416 and 417 of Pedavadlapudi village is a Tank Poramboke which the State Government has no power to assign. As the Gram Panchayat and the State Government were not made parties to the aforesaid O. S. No. 965 of 1971, earlier filed, the plaintiff filed the second Suit O. S. No. 1301 of 1971 impleading the State Government and the Gram Pranchayat. Both the suits were decreed by the Courts below. Against these decrees, the present two appeals have been filed.

( 2 ) D. No. 416 of Pedavadlapudi covers an extent of Ac. 2. 34 cents and D. No. 417 of the same village covers an extent of Ac, 3. 37 cents. These lands are registered as Tank Porambokes in the Government records. Out of Ac. 3,37 cents in D. No. 417 the Government had assigned Ac. 3. 03 cents to a political sufferer one Narasimhaswamy, who is the 3rd defendant in O. S. No. 1301 of 1971. The said Narasimhaswamy in his turn sold ac. 2. 67 cents out of Ac. 3. 37 cents assigned to him to the 4th defendant in o. S. No. 1301/1971 Anne Narasimha Rao under a registered sale deed dated 19-7-67 marked as Ex, B-2 and Ac. 0. 36 cents to another person under registered sale deed dated 10-8-1967 marked as Ex. B-1, It appears that the Government had also assigned about Ac, 1. 97 cents to the aforesaid narasimhaswamy from and out of the land covered by O. No, 416. The suit was filed on the basis of allegation that these alienations made by the State Government interfere with the rights of the villagers of Pedavadlapudi preventing them, their cattle and carts from reaching their lands, situated around these Survey numbers. The Commissioner who has been appointed by the court, reported that the tank situated in the aforesaid two survey numbers is essential for the Community and that there is no other public source of water for men, cattle etc. , and that the bunds are absolutely essential for passage of carts, yokes, ploughs etc. The defendants have not filed any objections to this report of the Commissioner. The plaintiff relying upon Section 85 of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act pleaded that the State government has ao power to assign this tank poramboke to the 3rd defendant or to any other person. After framing the necessary issues, the courts below tried these suits more on questions of law than on facts which are in any case not much in dispute. The courts below held that the judgments of this Court reported in Narisi Ready vs. Government of A. P. and N. Venkataratnam and Others vs. State of A. P. which ruled that the Government has no power to assign these tank porambokes that vest in the Gram Panchayats under section 85 of the Gram Panchayat Act, apply to the facts of these suits.

( 3 ) IT is an undisputed fact in this case that Pedavadlapudi tank, situated in the aforesaid Survey Numbers 416 and 417, is registered as a tank poramboke in the records. From that fact it follows that the village community of Pedavadlapudi have a right vested in them to the user of that tank. But, that right of the community is now made subject to the provisions of Section 85 of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act. Section 85 of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act reads as follows: 85, Vesting of water works in gram panchayats : (1) All public water-courses,

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