Hyderabad: Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy, a vacation judge of the Hyderabad High Court, has granted stay on the move of TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation to evict Ittina Properties Pvt Ltd from 15 acres of land at Khanamet, near Madhapur of the city.
The judge was dealing with a petition by Ittina Properties and Manu Ittina against attempts by the TSIIC to dispossess the petitioners from the subject land under the guise of auction of a part of the land.
Avinash Desai, counsel for the petitioners, told the court that his clients purchased the land years ago and the TSIIC was trying to dispossess them as it was proposed to sell land in Survey No. 41/4 of Khanamet through auction. The petitioners’ lands also fall under the same survey number.
Mr Desai said that more than 30 families depended on the 15 acres by way of cultivating them. He said that the TSIIC also planned to pool private land.
While issuing notices to the TSIIC and Revenue authorities, the judge directed them to maintain status quo till further orders.
Hyderabad High Court: No bar on private survey
The Hyderabad High Court has held that the Revenue and Survey officials should not refuse when owners of private properties approach them to survey and demarcate the boundaries of their lands.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, while allowing a petition by M. Padmavathi from East Godavari district of AP challenging the refusal by revenue authorities to survey her land, observed that merely because there was no specific provision in AP Survey and Boundaries Act, 1923 on survey of private lands, it cannot be said that the revenue and survey authorities of the state were prohibited from surveying private properties.
The judge said, “Unless such a prohibition is provided in the Act, as public servants having expertise in doing survey, it is incumbent on the officials to survey private lands if a request to that effect is made after collecting the necessary charges.”
The judge recalled circulars issued by the erstwhile AP government in 2010 and 2012 under the Board Standing Order permitting revenue officials to conduct survey on applications of the private parties.
Citing the AP High Court order in Hyderabad Potteries Pvt Ltd versus Hyderabad District Collector, the judge pointed out that the Act makes it clear that the survey made under the said Act was mainly for the purpose of identification of the land and fixing its boundaries, and there is no provision under the Act for making any enquiries with regard to right, title and interest of the persons in the land.
The judge noted that under the Act, persons aggrieved by any decision referred to in the survey have the liberty to approach the appropriate Civil Court for adjudication, if needed.
