ORDER :

The petitioner herein claims ownership and possession of Ac.3.80 cents of land in Sy.No.396 and Ac.4.62 cents of land in Sy.No.435 of Kattamanchi Revenue Village, Chittoor District. This land is said to have been purchased from the 2nd respondent, by way of a deed of sale dated 29.10.1982, registered as document No.7208 of 1982, registered with the Sub-Registrar, Chittoor.

2. The petitioner traces the title of this land in the following manner.

3. The 2nd respondent, who was the owner of the aforesaid land admeasuring Ac.8.42 cents had leased out this land to one M. Pachiappa Mudaliar, by way of a public auction held on 10.09.1971, on an annual rent of Rs.1700/-, for a period of six years. This lease also obtained the approval of the Commissioner, Endowments Department. As M. Pachiappa Mudaliar had defaulted in payment of the lease amounts, O.S.No.344 of 1975 was filed by the 2nd respondent, before the District Munsiff Court, Chittoor for recovery of the lease amount and for possession of the property. While, the said suit was pending, M. Pachiappa Mudaliar inducted the petitioner into possession of the said property. Thereafter, the petitioner entered into a fresh lease with the 2nd respondent, for a period of six years, from 19.12.1979 to 18.12.1985 on an annual lease of Rs.4,525/-. This was approved by the Commissioner, Endowments vide proceedings in L.Dis.No.A2.A2/18920/80-2 dated 22.04.1980. Thereafter, the petitioner had also paid an amount of Rs.17,427/- to the 2nd respondent towards the arrears of lease payable by M. Pachiappa Mudaliar. Thereafter, this payment was ratified by the Commissioner, Endowments in proceedings vide ROC.No.A2/18920/80-1, dated 29.04.1980. Permission was also accorded to withdraw O.S.No.344 of 1975 and the same was also withdrawn.

4. The petitioner expressed his willingness to the 2nd respondent to purchase the property at the prevailing market rate. Thereupon, the Assistant Commissioner, who was the then person in charge of the Mutt, had addressed a letter to the Commissioner, Endowments Department vide ROC.No.226/1982-A, dated 25.03.1982 recommending the sale of the property under Section 74(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious and Endowments Act, 1966 at the rate of Rs.15,000/- per acre. This proposal was approved by the Commissioner, Endowments Department vide proceedings in ROC.No.M2-24149/82, dated 04.05.1982 and the said approval was also published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette and also in Andhra Prabha daily newspaper on 08.06.1982. On the basis of this approval, the 2nd respondent- Mutt sold the land to the petitioner following directions given in G.O.Rt.No.1427 Revenue (Endowments III) Department dated 24.08.1982. It also appears that there were further proceedings of the Commissioner, Endowments in ROC.No.M2/24149/82 dated 09.09.1982 and orders of the erstwhile High Court of A. P. dated 14.10.1982 in W.P.M.P.No.10901 of 1982 in W.P.No.3621 of 1982.

5. As these lands had been kept in the prohibitory list under Section 22(a)(i)(c) to the Registration Act, the petitioner along with two other persons had filed W.P.No.9903 of 2015 for deleting the said lands from the prohibitory list. This writ petition came to be disposed of along with a batch of cases with certain directions. The petitioner then approached the Commissioner, Endowments for No objection Certificate for alienation of the said land. As no orders were being passed on this representation, the petitioner filed Contempt Case No.2337 of 2016 after which, the Commissioner, Endowments issued proceedings in Memo No.M1/26631/2016 dated 03.04.2017 which had been filed by the 2nd respondent.

6. At this stage, the 2nd respondent had filed O.A.NO.394 of 2017 before the Andhra Pradesh Endowments Tribunal for a declaration that the land, purchased by the petitioner, belongs to the 2nd respondent and for a consequential direction of delivery of vacant possession of the property, to the 2nd respondent along with payment