THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE E.V.VENUGOPAL

WRIT PETITION No.16811 of 2025

ORDER :

The present writ petition is filed by the petitioners under Article

226 of the Constitution of India for the following relief :

“...seeking issuance of a writ of Certiorari duly calling for the

records in L.E.Appeal Case No.08/2025 DGM, in the Court of the

Revenue Divisional Officer, Bhadrachalam dated 28.04.2025...”

2. Heard Sri P.Rama Sharma, learned counsel for the

petitioners and Sri L.Ravinder, learned Assistant Government Pleader appearing on behalf of learned Government Pleader for Revenue Sri

K.Muralidhar Reddy.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the

petitioners having aggrieved by the common order passed by the 3^rd respondent have instituted the present joint writ petition stating that they preferred an appeal against the orders of the 4th respondent dated 18.12.2024 passed under the Telangana Land Encroachment Act, 1905 in respect of lands in Survey Nos.55/2, 52/1, 51/4, 51/3, 51/1 and 53/2 admeasuring Ac.16-90 guntas situated at Peddanallabelli Village, Dummugudem Mandal, Bhadradri Kothagudem District. The appellate authority the 3rd respondent took the appeal on file as L.E.Appeal No. 08 of 2025 DGM and dismissed it by order dated 28.04.2025. The said

order, being illegal, arbitrary, contrary to the material on record and passed without due consideration of the petitioners’ contentions, is under challenge herein.

(a) The learned counsel for the petitioners asserts that the subject lands have been in continuous possession of the petitioners for three generations and constitute their sole source of livelihood. They have been cultivating the said lands and were also issued possession certificates by the Tahsildar, thereby acknowledging their possession. Hence, the provisions of the Land Encroachment Act are inapplicable. However, acting on extraneous considerations, the Tahsildar issued notices under Section 7 of the Act and passed eviction orders without due regard to the petitioners’ objections. The eviction orders were earlier challenged before this Court, wherein it was directed to pursue the statutory appeal while protecting the petitioners from eviction until disposal of such appeal. In compliance, they preferred the appeal before the 3^rd respondent, who, despite recording their submissions, dismissed the appeal without proper application of mind or law. Though the Act provides for a revision before the District Collector, the same is neither efficacious nor adequate, as the authority lacks jurisdiction to interpret the law and ordinarily aligns with the government’s stance. Moreover, the impugned notices and orders are beyond the scope of the Act and warrant judicial scrutiny under Article

226 of the Constitution of India.

(b) The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the Act of 1905, though adopted by the successor States, must still be applied in conformity with its scope and purpose. The authorities are first required to determine whether the land is Government property within the meaning of Section 2 of the Act and next to ascertain whether the occupation is unauthorised. The Act merely provides that occupants may be evicted, making eviction discretionary and not mandatory. The petitioners submit that the subject lands do not fall within the statutory definition of Government property. Their possession for over seven decades, their entries in the revenue records and the possession certificates issued by the Tahsildar negate any allegation of unauthorised occupation. At best, their occupation is a permitted one lacking formal title, a matter they reserve the right to pursue separately.

(c) Section 5 of the Act contemplates levy of assessment on unauthorised occupants and Section 6 confers only a discretionary power of eviction, which must be exercised in accordance with principles of natural justice. As the revisional authority is none other than the District Collector, who cannot adopt a view different from that