1 APHC010313122024 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3333] TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE V.SUJATHA CONTEMPT CASE NO: 3168/2024 Between: V.babu, and Others ...PETITIONER(S) AND Sumit Kumar I A S and Others ...CONTEMNOR(S) Counsel for the Petitioner(S): 1. T V JAGGI REDDY Counsel for the Contemnor(S): 1. K M KRISHNA REDDY 2. Y BALAJI The Court made the following: 2 ORDER: This Contempt Case is filed for willful violation of the orders of this Court dated 17.04.2023 passed in W.P.No.9441 of 2023, operative portion of which, reads as under: “8. In view of the same, to settle the issue, this Court feels it appropriate to dispose of this writ petition with the following directions: i. The respondent authorities, with the assistance of the Revenue department, shall conduct a survey to demarcate the road margins and boundaries of the petitioners’ property. This survey shall be conducted in the presence of the petitioners or their representatives. ii. For the purpose of enabling the petitioners to be present at the time of the survey, notices shall be given to the petitioners. iii. After the survey is conducted, if it is found, that the petitioners have encroached the road margin, it would be open to the respondents to take appropriate action in accordance with law. This survey shall be completed within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. iv. Till such survey is completed, the respondents shall not interfere with the petitioner’s possession over the subject land, without following due process of law.” 2. The 2nd respondent has filed a counter duly stating that in pursuance of the orders passed by this Court, the 3rd respondent has issued a notice to the petitioners informing the date and time of conducting survey for fixing the road margins of the petitioners’ covered lands vide their office Roc.No.A/598/2023, dated.20.09.2023 informing the petitioner that the survey will be taken up on 27.09.2023. But however, the petitioners have refused to receive the said notice stating that they will receive the notices after obtaining instructions from 3 their counsel. Thereafter, they kept quite and all of a sudden sent a legal notice to all the respondents through their counsel on 17.07.2024. 3. Further it is stated that due to the Electoral Revision work and the Election Code from March 2024, the respondent issued notice on 12.08.2024 to all the petitioners individually informing that the survey work will be taken up on 14.08.2024 at 11.00 a.m. and requested them to attend land survey. Accordingly, the survey work was taken up by the Mandal Surveyor working in the office of the Tahsildar, Chittoor under the Supervision of the Deputy Tahsildar working in the office of the 3rd respondent and the DEE, R&B, Chittoor jointly along with the machinery in the presence of the petitioners. 4. In the joint survey report, it is noticed that there is no piece of land which belongs to the petitioners. The petitioners claiming the land abutting the road as their own property has sold away the same to the subsequent purchasers. The said purchasers residing abutting the said road has already constructed the house in the house sites purchased by them from the petitioners. It is also stated that as part of road repairs, cement road was laid on the existing road and has informed to the petitioners that the petitioners’ land was not encroached for laying the said road. But however, the petitioners has not agreed and refused to sign on the said joint survey inspection report. As such, thereafter speaking orders were passed by the Tahsildar on 12.08.2024 informing the petitioners with regard to the action initiated by the respondents in pursuance of the orders passed by this Court on 17.04.2023 in W.P.No.9441 of 2023. 4 5. As the respondents have already conducted a survey in pursuance of the orders passed by this Court and also passed speaking orders on 12.08.2024, this Court is of the opinion that the respondents have complied with the orders passed by this Court. 6. In view of the same, the Contempt Case is closed. However, the petitioners are at liberty to challenge the proceedings dated 12.08.2024 of the Tahsildar. As a sequel, miscellaneous applications, pending, if any, shall also stand closed. __________________ JUSTICE V.SUJATHA Date: 25.02.2025 JLV