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2023 Supreme(Online)(AP) 2906
HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH FRIDAY ,THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY THREE PRSENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE R RAGHUNANDAN RAO WRIT PETITION NO: 34579 OF 2022 Between:
1. M PRADEEP S/o. M. Prabhudas, Aged 31 Years, Occ. Pvt. Employee, Residing at Harijanawada, Chinamuttevi Village, Movva Mandal, Krishna District
2. M. Yehoshua S/o. M. Israel, Aged 51 Years, Occ. Agriculture, Residing at Harijanawada, Chinamuttevi Village, Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
...PETITIONER(S)
AND:
1. THE STATE OF AP Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj Department, Secretariat, Velagapudi, Amaravati, Guntur District.
3. The District Collector (Panchayat Wing) Krishna District.
4. The District Panchayat Officer Machilipatnam, Krishna District.
5. The Tahsildar Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
6. The Extension Officer Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department (PRandRD), Mandal Praja Parishad Development Office, Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
7. Chinnamuttevi Gram Panchayat Rep. by its Panchayat Secretary, Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
8. Chittoori Yesupadam S/o. George, Aged about 48 Years, Occ. Agriculture, Resident of Harijanawada, Chinnamuttevi Village, Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
9. Chittoori Gandhi S/o. Wilson, Aged about 50 Years, Occ. Agriculture, Resident of Harijanawada, Chinnamuttevi Village, Mowa Mandal, Krishna District.
10. Motupalli Immanuel S/o. Motupalli Yelamanda, Aged about 54 Years, Occ. Agriculture, Resident of Harijanawada, Chinnamuttevi Village, Movva Mandal, Krishna District.
...RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner(s): SESHADRI GOALLA Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR PANCHAYAT RAJ RURAL DEV The Court made the following: ORDER HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE R. RAGHUNANDAN RAO WRIT PETITION Nos.23302 of 2018, 34579 of 2022 & 809 of
2023
COMMON ORDER:
As all the three writ petitions involve common question of fact, they are being disposed of by way of this common order.
2. Heard Sri Madhava Rao Nalluri, learned counsel for the petitioners in W.P.No.23302 of 23018 and private respondents in W.P.No.34579 of 2022 and W.P.No.809 of 2023, Sri I.Koti Reddy, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner in W.P.No.809 of 2023, Sri Seshadri Gola learned counsel for the petitioners in W.P.No.34579 of 2022 and Sri N.Sri Hari learned Standing Counsel for Gram Panchayat in all the writ petitions.
3. The brief background of the case is necessary before the same can be adjudicated.
4. Five petitioners had filed W.P.No.23302 of 2018.
These petitioners claimed ownership of certain residential thatched houses in R.S.No.140-4 of Chinnamuttevi Village, Movva Mandal, Krishna District. They traced their title to the said property through the Gift Deed dated 27.04.1964 which was registered as Document No.856 of 1964 and another Gift Deed dated 28.04.1976 which was registered as Document No.604 of 1976. The dispute at present relates to the property of petitioners 1, 4 and 5 in W.P.No.23302 of 2018. The property in the present case is said to be a house site admeasuring 150.5 sq.yards of land. The petitioners, in this writ petition, had contended that the revenue authorities were threatening to lay a road through the land of the petitioners forcibly and the same was not permissible. This Court, by an order dated 06.07.2018 had directed that the Gram Panchayat should not interfere with the possession and enjoyment of the petitioners over the land claimed by them.
5. While this writ petition was pending, the petitioners in W.P.No.34579 of 2022 and W.P.No.809 of 2023 had approached this Court with the complaint that the petitioners in W.P.No.23302 of 2018 had encroached into the path adjoining their plots and were undertaking construction of houses in the encroached land. The petitioners in these two writ petitions were aggrieved by the inaction of the official respondents in taking any action against the petitioners in W.P.No.23302 of 2018. 6. The case of the petitioners in W.P.No.23302 of 2018 is that there was a common pathway on the northern side of their plot and there is no pathway on the eastern side of the plot. Sri N.Madhava Rao would draw the attention of this Court to the Gift Deed of 1964 which shows that 150.5 sq.yards was gifted to the petitioners with the boundaries and the dimensions of the plot being set out in the said deed of gift. A perusal of the said deed of gift shows that the dimensions of the plot claimed by the petitioners in W.P.No.23302 of 2018 are as follows:
East : 14 yards West : 14 yards North :10.75 yards South :10.75 yards
7. It is the contention of Sri Madhava Rao that the description of the boundaries would show that there is no pathway on the eastern side of the plot of his clients. He contends that the construction being carried on by his clients is within the boundaries of the plot owned by them and there is no encroachment of any alleged common pathway on the eastern side.
8. Sri I.Koti Reddy and Sri Seshadri Gola, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in other two writ petitions would submit that clients of Sri Madhava Rao had encroached into a common pathway which is existing on the eastern side of their plot with a width of 9 feet. They support this contention by drawing the attention of this Court to two documents. The first document is the report of the Tahsildar, Movva dated
18.10.2012, to the Village Secretary of the Gram Panchayat, stating that a survey had been conducted on 18.10.2012 which shows that there was a 9 feet wide pathway in Sy.No.140/4 and that two electrical poles standing in the corner of the house belonging to the petitioner in W.P.No.23302 of 2018 were required to be moved back to ensure that there is a clear carriage way of 9 feet available to the residents of the area. The 2nd document is the occupancy certificate said t
