Hyderabad: A litigation which was started in the composite Madras state in 1952, just a year before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh from Madras state, interestingly ended up in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, just a month before the recent bifurcation of AP.
And, finally the AP government won 1500 acres of land known as Kothacheruvu Kandriga (KCK) near Gudimallam village in Chittoor. In 1786, KCK was granted by the then Srikalahasthi zamindar to Ramanuja Kootam Koil Veeraraghavaswami and his brother Ayyappa as a personal grant. After introduction of the Madras Estates Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari Act, 1948, the government notified KCK as inam land and a part and parcel of the zamindari of Srikalahasthi.
The notification was questioned in 1952 in the Madras High Court by two persons claiming to be lessees. They contended that KCK formed part of Gudimallam village and as it was a minor inam, it did not vest in the government since it was not an “estate” within the meaning of the said term under the provisions of the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908.
After Andhra’s separation from the composite state in 1953, the case was transferred to the High Court of Andhra at Guntur and the court allowed the petition in 1955 by quashing the notification.
In 1956, the state of Andhra Pradesh enacted the Andhra Pradesh Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956 and a notification was issued under the Act in 1975 by taking possession of KCK lands. Meanwhile, the property changed several hands and in 1968 the then trustees sold the land to V.K. Balaram Chetty.
When Balaram Chetty approached the tahsildar, Srikalahasthi in 1971 for a patta, his application was rejected in 1972. He then filed an application before the sub-collector who directed the tahsildar to issue the patta.
Meanwhile in 1968, the forest department issued a notification showing KCK as part of the Narayanavanam block of forests under the AP Forest Act, 1967. One Pamula Krishnaiah claiming to be leaseholder of the land, questioned this before the forest settlement officer, Nellore and objected to the inclusion of KCK.
The forest settlement officer upheld the said objections which, in turn, was questioned by the district forest officer, Chittoor in 1975. He placed reliance on a memorandum dated May 24, 1957, treating KCK as land included in the assets of Kalahasti zamindari and deemed to have been taken over along with the main estate of Kalahasti on September 3, 1952. However, the appeal was dismissed.
