Proceedings initiated under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act against a deceased landholder without due service of notice upon the legal heirs are illegal, void, and liable to be set aside.

The writ petition is filed to declare the order passed by the respondent No.2 – Special Officer and Competent Authority, Urban Land Ceiling, under Section 8(1) of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (for short ‘the ULC Act’); order dated 27.10.2007 passed under Section 8(4) and declaration under Section 10(3) dated 11.03.2008 of the ULC Act in CC.No.D/1199 and 1200 of 2007 and consequential proceedings including Panchanama dated 26.03.2008 and G.O.Ms.No.972 dated 02.08.2008 and all other consequential proceedings, as being illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India.

2. The writ petition was initially filed by the sole petitioner. Subsequently, IA.No.1 of 2022 was filed seeking impleadment of one Mrs. Geeta Sood Makhija as petitioner No.2, which was allowed by order dated 21.10.2024. Thus, petitioner No.2 was brought on record.

3. For the sake of convenience, the facts, as pleaded, before impleadment of petitioner No.2, are referred to as under:

(a) The claim of the petitioner is that she is one of the three legal heirs of late Mrs. Surya Sood, the original owner of land admeasuring Ac.11.26 guntas in Sy.No.131 of Kismathpur Village of Gandipet Mandal (erstwhile Rajendra Nagar Mandal). Mrs. Surya Sood purchased the said land from M/s. Atul Pharma and Surgical and Dressing Company under registered Sale Deed bearing document No.916/1968 dated 17.07.1968. The name of Surya Sood was recorded in the pahanies as pattedar and possessor of the above land. During her life time, she had sold away an extent of Ac.4.00 guntas to Smt. Y. Nirmala Chiranjeevi Reddy vide registered Sale Deed bearing document No.1445 of 1992 and Ac.3.00 guntas to Sri Y. Chiranjeevi Reddy under registered Sale Deed bearing document No.4207 of 1992. After the said sale, the mother of the petitioner was left with an extent of land admeasuring Ac.4.26 guntas. The mother of the petitioner expired in the year 1992 and father Sri. Satdev Sood expired in the year 1993, leaving behind the elder sister, Mrs. Ritu Sood and younger sister, Geeta Sood and the petitioner as the only legal heirs and they have inherited 1/3rd equal share in their properties including the subject land.

(b) It is stated that the petitioner got married in the year 1989 and moved out of India. The respondent No.8, (elder sister of the petitioner), who is resident of Hyderabad, was looking after the affairs of the properties. The younger sister of the petitioner is settled in United States. Recently, the petitioner came to know that the respondent No.8 sold the entire property admeasuring Ac.4.26 guntas, which was left by their mother. The sale, if any, is not binding on the petitioner as she is not a party to the same and she has 1/3rd share in the property along with the respondent No.8 and her younger sister. The petitioner obtained copies of pahanies, which reflected the name of the respondent No.8 as pattedar and possessor of the subject land in place of Smt. Surya Sood.

(c) It is submitted that the petitioner had been pursuing applications under Right to information Act, 2005 for issuance of relevant revenue records and application before the survey authorities. During her enquiries, the petitioner came to know that the subject land is declared surplus land under the ULC Act and possession was taken over by Mandal Revenue Officer, Rajendra Nagar-respondent No.5. The petitioner made an application to respondent No.2 on 06.10.2017 under the RTI Act requesting to furnish relevant proceedings and documents pertaining to the subject land. The respondent N