2026:APHC:16819 APHC010205012016 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI [3311]

(Special Original Jurisdiction)

Tuesday, the Seventeenth day of March Two Thousand and Twenty Six Present The Honourable Ms. Justice B.S.Bhanumathi Writ Petition No: 6382 of 2016 Between:

Baggu Chanti and others ...Petitioners and The State of Andhra Pradesh and others ...Respondents Counsel for the petitioners:

1. K. Venkatesh Counsel for the respondents:

1. G.P. for Forests (A.P.)

The Court made the following:

ORDER:

This writ petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to declare the notices issued by the Forest Section Officer, Rajavommangi Section, Rajavommangi, East Godavari District / respondent No.3 in reference No.01 / 2016, dated 15.02.2016 directing the petitioners to vacate the forest land within seven days as wholly illegal, arbitrary and violative of the principles of natural justice and the Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and consequently set aside the said notices.

2. The case of the petitioners is briefly as follows:

The petitioners have been in possession and personally cultivating the forest land / kondapodu of 2 acres situated in Rajavommangi Village for the past several decades since their ancestors‟ time. The petitioners are poor and landless non-tribals and staying in the said land raising huts therein. Their main livelihood is cultivation of the said land. They are „other traditional forest dwellers‟ as defined in Section 2 of the Schedule Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (in short „the Act, 2006‟). The respondent No.3 issued the impugned notice without disclosing the provision of law under which they were issued, yet directed them to vacate the land within seven days. The petitioners had not been issued any show cause notice under Section 20 (3) of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967 (in short „the Act, 1967‟) before issuing the notices. Thus, the impugned notices are illegal. Some other persons who were identically issued notices filed W.P.No.3052 of 2015 in which an interim order was granted vide W.P.M.P.No.4069 of 2015 by this Court directing status quo to be maintained with regard to the possession of the property.

3. The respondent No.2 filed a counter with the averments, briefly stated, as follows:

The allegations in the affidavit of the petitioners are false. The Rajavommangi Reserve Forest was notified under Section 16 of the Madras Forest Act (v of 12) vide Board of Revenue (Land Revenue), Forest No.62, dated 10.02.1900. It is situated within the Rajavommangi Beat of Rajavommangi Section of Rajavommangi Range. Section 4 (3) of the Act, 2006 recognizes and vests forest rights on the forest dwelling schedule tribes and the other traditional forest dwellers in relation to any state or union territory in respect of forest land and their habitat shall be subject to the condition that such schedule tribe or tribal community or the other traditional forest dweller had occupied the forest land before 13.12.2005. The petitioners are neither „schedule tribes‟ nor „other traditional forest dwellers‟. In the year 2013, they encroached the reserve forest compartment No.527 which was allotted to Appalarajupeta Vana Samrakshana Samithi (in short “V.S.S.”). The same forest area is being protected and managed by the V.S.S. members. It is false that the petitioners have been cultivating the land for decades and living therein. In the resolution dated 07.01.2016 of the members of V.S.S. who are living adjacent to the forest land, it was clearly mentioned that the petitioners recently encroached the land. The petitioners are ineligible for any right under the Act, 2006 as they illegally occupied the land after 13.12.2005. No claim of the petitioners is pending at any stage under the Act, 2006. The petitioners have been issued notices as per the Act, 1967. They have been given sufficient opportunity and time. This petition was filed to illegally gra