Point of Law: When there are two competing claims, one rooted in public interest and another relates to the protection of the rights of the individual, the cause of the public interest must be considered as overwhelming one.

ORDER :

Petitioners seek a writ of mandamus declaring the action of respondents in insisting them to vacate their agricultural land of an extent of Ac 2.30 cents out of Ac 15.82 cents in S.No.654 situated in Gonugunta Revenue Village, Chimakurthy Mandal, Prakasam District, and the consequential action of respondents in taking steps to distribute the said land as house site pattas under ‘NAVARATNALU PEDALANDARIKI ILLU SCHEME’ to the weaker sections, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 & 21 of the Constitution of India and for a consequential direction to respondents to remove the gravel dumped in their agricultural landed property and not to assign the said land as house site pattas to third parties.

2. The petitioners’ case succinctly is thus:

a) 1st petitioner is the wife and petitioner Nos.2 to 4 are the children of late Venkateswarlu. He occupied the Government poramboke land of an extent of Ac 2.30 cents out of Ac 15.82 cents in S.No.654 situated in Gonugunta Revenue Village, Chimakurthy Mandal, Prakasam District. After his death, the petitioners succeeded the said land and they are in exclusive possession and enjoyment of the same without any interruption by anybody. The 4th respondent granted Pattadar Passbook and title deed in favour of the 1st petitioner’s husband and after his demise, the petitioners are paying property tax. Earlier, the petitioners filed W.P.No.3728 of 2020 seeking a direction to the Revenue Department to mutate the 1st petitioner’s name in the online web land revenue records and for granting e-pattedar passbook and title deed and the said writ petition is pending adjudication. Further, when the revenue authorities issued an urgent notice dated 14.06.2020 and tried to interfere with the petitioners’ possession of the subject land, the petitioners filed W.P.No.10113 of 2020 which was disposed of on 18.06.2020 with a direction to the revenue officials not to interfere with the petitioners’ possession of the subject land by setting aside the aforesaid urgent notice issued by the Tahsildar, Chimakurthy Mandal.

b) Thereafter, present respondent Nos.2 to 4, taking advantage that they were not arrayed as party respondents in W.P.No.10113 of 2020, tried to meddle with the petitioners’ possession and enjoyment of the subject land and in fact on 20.06.2020, the staff of respondent Nos.2 to 4 visited the petitioners’ landed property and started conducting survey highhandedly without issuing any prior notice to the petitioners. When the petitioners enquired, the staff of respondent Nos.2 to 4 orally informed that on instructions from superior officials, they were conducting survey as the said land was required for public purpose. The petitioners approached respondent Nos.2 to 4 personally and showed their documents of title in respect of the subject land. They informed that the land was required for allotting house sites to the houseless poor persons under ‘NAVARATNALU PEDALANDARIKI ILLU SCHEME’ and that the petitioners should vacate their land immediately, or else they would be dispossessed by using police force. Further, the 4th respondent and his staff have highhandedly removed the petitioners and dumped the gravel in the subject land which they have no right to do. So far, the respondents have not initiated any acquisition proceedings.

Hence the writ petition.

3. Opposing the writ petition, the 3rd respondent filed counter inter alia contending thus:

a) S.No.654 admeasuring Ac 15.82 cents is classified as Village Site Poramboke in the village accounts of Gonugunta village of Chimakurthy Mandal. An extent of Ac 2.30 cents in that land was sub-divided as S.No.654/1 and allotted to Kandimalla Venkateswarlu, who is the husband of the 1st petitioner, for agricultural purposes vide Temporary Order No.57/84 dated 24.07.1984 by the then Tahsildar, Chimakurthy Mandal, subject to the condition that Pucca Patta would be granted only after collection of sub-division fee, market value of the site and upon conver