APHC010435562025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA AT AMARAVATI PRApiESH TUESDAY,THE SECOND DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE DHIRAJ SINGH THAKUR, AND HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI WRIT APPEAL n6:^4 OF 2n?fi Writ Appeal under clause 15 of the Letters dated 16.07.2025 i High Qourt. CHIEF JUSTICE Patent against the order in I.A No.1,.of 2025 in W.P No. 17887^q12025 on the file of Between; 1. Dr.Kolli Sarada Kuragayala Whole sale Market Varthakula Sankshema Sangam Rep by its President Yerramsetty Satyanarayana Aged about 68 years, Occ: Business R/o F-502, Sri Lakshmi Bhimineni Apartment 1st line, Rajendra nagar, Guntur-52^66 2. Raghupathi Ramana Rao S/o Hanumaiah (S-5 5A) Aged about 65 years, Occ; Business, ^BZo DJMo. 19-7-504, Sangadigunta Guntur-522002 . 3. Raghupathi Satyanarayana ($-4A) Aged about 41 years-, Occ: Business, R/o D.No. 19-7-504, Sangadigunta Guntur-522002 4. Nimmakayala Satyanarayana S/o $atyam(S-4) Aged about 56 years, Occ; Business R/o D.No. 5-90-23/2, 5/3 Chandramouli Nagar Guntur - 522 007 5. A Bruhaspathi S/o Sarnbasiva rao (S-13) Aged About 60 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 25-8-32/A, 2nd line, Ramanama Kshetram, R Agraharam Guntur-522 003 ■ 6. Setty Govindaiah S/o Kesavulu (12 &12A) Aged about 79 yedrs, Occ; Business R/o D.No. 25-14-52, 10th line. Srinivasa rao Pet, Guntur-522 004'" 7. Setty Venkata Mastan Rao S/o Govindaiah(S-11) Aged about 49 years. Occ: Business, R/o D.No. 25-14-52, 10th line, Srinivasa rao Pet, Guntur-522 004 8. Setty Peda Mastan Rao S/o Govindaiah(S-14) Aged about 53 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 25-14-52, 10th line, Srinivasa rao Pet, Guntur-522 004 Tirumalasetty Anjaneyulu S/o Rama Koti (S-6 & 28) Aged about 52 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 19/1-482/2, 3rd line railway gate, Arundathi najgar Kothapet, Guntur- 522001 V,; 9. lO.NaredIa Seetha Ramaiah S/o N. Vijaya Babu (S-31/A) Aged about 50 years, Occ; Business D.NO. 6-17-35, 17/2 Arundalpet, Guntur-522 002 11. Tirumalasetty Sambasiva Rao S/o Rama Koti (S-63, 64) Aged about 60 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 8-12-719,/7, 9/2 nehru nagar Kothapet, Guntur-522 001. 12.Nimmakayala Raja Narayana S/o Satyam (S-40,41) Aged about 62 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 5-90-55, 5/3 Chandramouli Nagar Guntur - 522 007 13.Shaik Karimulla S/o Shaik Hussen (S-58) Aged about 64 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 15-8-141, Jakeer Huss^ Nagar 2nd line, Guntur-522 001 14. Shaik Masthan Valli S/o Hussain (S-59/A) Aged about 61 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 16-16-128, Alii Nagar 3rd line. Old Guntur, Guntur-522.001. 15. Shaik Abdul Kadhar S/o Masthan Valli (S- 59) Aged about 42 years, Occ; Business R/o D.No. 16-16-128, Alii Nagar ^ 3rd line. Old Guntur, Guntur-522 001. 16.Kovuru Sankar Rao S/o Venkateswara rao (S-62) Aged about 57 years, Occ; Business D.No. 26-6-46, 4th line Ramanama Kasetram, / R. Agraharam, Guntur-522 004 17. Yerramsetti Suresh Babu (S-54) Aged about 44 years, Occ; Business R/oD.No. 133-2-313. 2nd line, Madura nagar. Guntur-522 034 18. Pagidimarri Siva Sankar Rao S/o Jangaiah (S-21) Aged about 56 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 12-75, 7/4 line. Nehru Nagar, Guntur-522 001 lO. Yarramsetty Suri S/o Subbarao (S-19, 20) Aged about 63 years, Occ: Business, R/o D.No. 4-5-67, Plate No. 301, Mayuri Mansions, Chandra Mouli Nagar Guntur-522007 20.Baggi Suryanarayana S/o Koteswara rao (S-19A) Aged about 56 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 63-11 -1834, 9th line, Balaji Nagar. Guntur-522 001 21 .Vadigineni Srinu S/o V. Punnaiah (s-43) D.No 26-1-40, Nagarampalem, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh -522004 22.Shaik Jani S/o Shaik Moulali (S- 24, ) Aged about 55 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 24-21-43 10th line Nallacheruvu, Guntur- 522 003 23. Shaik Bashir S/o Shaik Jani (S- 24A) Aged about 30 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 24-21-43 10th line, ’ Nallacheruvu, Guntur- 522 003 24.Yarramsetty Sridhar S/o Satyanarayana (S-51) Aged about 52 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.N0.17-2-32/B, Suddapalli donka, r 1st line, Mukhdum nagar, Guntur-522 001 25. Yerramsetty satyanarayana S/o Venkateswarlu (S-36) Aged about 60 years, Occ: Business, R/o D.No.17-2-32/B, Suddapalli donka, 1st line, Mukhdum nagar, Guntur-522 001 26.Adapa Sambasiva Rao S/o A Sankar rao (S 50, 47) Aged About 41 years, Occ: Business R/o D.No. 25-3-82, Adapa Vari street R Agraharam, Guntur-522 004 27. Gati Rama Koteswararao (S 39A) C/o Gati Kotikingam, Aged about 40 years R/o D.No. 8-3-133, 4**^1300, Buchaiah Thota Guntur-522 002 28.Atmakuri Rambabu C/o Sriram prasadarao (S-61) Aged about 54 years, Occ: Business, R/o D.N0.24-14-19B, 3/2 Nallacheruvu Guntur-522 003 29. Pattern Venkateswarlu S/o Ramanaiah (S-52, 53) Aged about years R/o Door No 16569, Lalbadadur Nagar, 2nd Line, Old Guntur, Guntur City and'District SO.Shaik Mastan shareef S/o Kaza Mohiddin (S-8, 8A) Aged about 37 years R/o 158184, 4TH lane ’ , Zakir Hussain Nagar, Old Guntur, Kothapeta, Guntur. 31;Shaik Usman Sheriff S/o Mastan Sharif {S-7A) Aged about 37 years R/o 158184, 4TH lane, Zakir Hussain Nagar, Old Guntur, Kothapeta, Guntur. 32.Padamuttam Chiranjeevi S/o P Srinivas rao (S-9) Aged about 68 years R/o 0115 Chakrayapalem, Adanki, Prakasam District. 33. Ilia Thirupati Rao S/o Subbaiah (S-10) Aged about 55 years, R/o D No 2517288/2, Srinivas Thota 9th lane, Guntur Collectorate, Guntur Town, Guptur District. 34.Tadekoru Nageswara Rao S/o Ramaswamy(S-26) Aged about 77 years R/o Door No 261452, Raghuram Nagar Nagarampalem Guntur City and District ’ 35. Dash Ramu S/o Mastan Rao (S-26A) Aged about 56 years R/o D no 8240, 2nd lane, Butchaiah thota, Kothapeta, Guntur town, Guntur District. 36.Kurthi Ajay babu S/o Srinivasa rao (S-17, 17A) Aged about 54 years R/o 817164, mangaladas nagar 2ND line Kakani road Guntur District 37.Ravutia Singaraiah S/o Sitharamaiah (S-18 18A) Aged about 72 years R/o 2516264, subbareddy nagar, Guntur Collectorate, Guntur Town, Guntur District / 38.Potlapalli Atchireddy S/o P Timma Reddy (S-60) Aged about 44 years R/o Flat No 403 B-Block Samskruthi Appartments Amaravathi Road, opp Hindu Pharmacy Collage, Guntur Town, Guntur. 39. Nagoor Sharif Shaik S/o Vali Shaik (S-3, 3A) Aged about 37 years R/o 12/22/17 sri sainadh towers, kothapet, Guntur District. 40. S K Valli S/o Meera Sahed (S-44,67) D.No. 12/22/17, Sri sai nadh Towers, Kothapet, Guntur, A.P-522001 41.Rejeti Rambabu S/o Suryanarayana (S-32) Aged about 77 years, R/o D.No 25-14, Srinivasarao thota, Guntur-522002 42.Yarasani Bhanu Prakash S/o Suribabu (S-42) Aged about 40 years. Business R/o 26-14-158/3, Raguram Nagar, Nagarampalem, Guntur - 522 004. 43. Katta Gopala Rao S/o K. Venkata Rao (s-34) Aged about 49 years, Occ; Business H.No. 26-1-134, Main road Nagarampalem, Guntur-522 004 44. Katta veeraraju S/o K. Venkata Rao {s-35) Aged about 54 years, Occ: Business H.No. 26-1-134, Main road Nagarampalem, Guntur-522 004 45.Chinnansetti Poturaju S/o Sesharao (S-39) Aged about 65 years, Occ; Business, D.No 1-27, Gundavaram, Guntur -522 212 46. P Rambabu S/o Surya Narayana (S-25) Aged about 77 years, Occ; Business, R/o D.No. 25-14, Srinivasarao Thota Guntur - 522 002 47.Davuri Narayana Rao S/o Venkatapaiah (S-48) Aged about 79 years R/o 26454, Raghuram Nagar, Nagara Palem, Guntur Town, Guntur District. 48.Mekapotu Rama Koti Reddy S/o Papi Reddy (S-29) 7 Aged about 75 years R/o Door No 59036, 7/1 st Line Kannialesh Residency, Chandramouli Nagar Guntur City and District 49.Gedala Purnachandra Rao S/o Surayya (S-46) Aged about 74 years, R/o D.No.25-18-66, Sivalayam Street, Sampath Nagar, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-522 003 50.Kanduta Ballarao S/o Subbarao (S-22A) Aged about 61 years, R/o D.No. 2-t72, Gorantia, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-522 034 51.Shaik subhani S/o Shaik Moulali(S-38) Aged about 52 years, R/o D.No. 13-7-65/c, Guntur vari thota, Guntur, A.P-522 001 52.Poiisetty Chowdeswara Rao S/o Arjuna Rao (S-49,49A) Aged about 49 years, R/o D.No. 25-4-85, Adapa Vari Street, R. Agraharam, Guntur, A.P-522 004 53.K Adhinarayana S/o Hanumayya,(S-22,23) Aged about 78 years, Rio D.No. 15-13-232/A RTC Colony, 2nd iane, Guntur, A.P-522 001 54.Shaik KalamuddinS/o Shaik Sharfuddin(S-37) Aged about 57 years, R/o D.No. 16-28-39 3rd line, Ali nagar, Ko’thapeta, Old guntur-522-001 55.U.Nageswarao (S-33) S/o Anjaneyulu, Aged about 72 years R/o D.No. 16-5-240 L.B.Nagar, 3'^^ line, old guntur Kothapet, guntur-522 001 56. N.Venugopala Rao (S-66) S/o venu gopala Rao Aged about 58 years D.No. 15-14-71, R.T.C Colony 5*'^ Line Kothapeta, Guntur-522001 ..Petitioner/s AND /-/o, n-20, 31 32- 0 . "7 - 1-The state of Andhra Pradesh, Rep byats Principal Secretary Municipal Administration Department, Secretariat Building, Velagapudi, Amaravathi, Guntur District. 2.The municipal Corporation of Guntur, Rep. by its CQmmissioner, Guntur, Guntur District, A.P. 3.The municipal Corporation of Guntur, Rep. by its Additional commissioner, Guntur, Guntur District, A.P. ...Respondents 4. Gadela Ramesh S/o kanakarao (S-57) Aged about 4B years R/o 2517165 11th lane Srinivas rao peta. Guntur Collectorate Guntur Town, Guntur District. , - 5. Kanadam Srinivasarao S/p Sambasiva Rao (S-55) Aged about 40 years R/o Door No 251834/A. Sampath Nagar Beside Appadala Company, Guntur City and Distric^- 6. Dannana Srinivas rao S/o Q Appala Swamy (S-45) Aged about 41 years R/o 6th lane, Balaji Nagar. Old Guntur. Guntur Town. Guntur District. Naredia \/ijaya Babu S/o N. Venkatanarasaiah (3-27) Aged about 77 years, Oce: Business D.No. 6-17-38. Arundalpet 17/2, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-522 002 7. ..Respondents / Writ Petitioners m II,C)G33.4i v- (Respondents 4to7 not necessary parties) r lA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the respondents not to evict us forcibly from our respective shops in Dr. Kolli Sarada Kuragayala Whole sale Market, Ggntur, Guntur without following due process of law pending disposal of the Appeal. Counsel for the Petitioners: SRI GHANTA SRIDHAR Counsel for the Respondent No.1 :GP FOR MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Counsel for the Respondent Nos.2 & 3: SRI A. S. C. BOSE, SC FOR District MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS Counsel for the Respondent Nos.4 to 7: The Court made the following: JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI Bench- Sr. No:-6 [3483] APHC010435562025 WRIT APPEAL NO: 944 of 2025 Dr. Kolli Sarada Kuragayala Whole Sale Market Varthakula Sankshema Sangam and others ...Appellants Vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh and others ...Respondents ********** Advocate for appellants Sri Ghanta Rama Rao, learned Senior Counsel for Sri Ghanta Sridhar Learned Government Pleader for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, learned Standing Counsel for Guntur Municipal Corporation. Advocate for respondents snI A. S. n Bose, . CORAM :THE CHIEF JUSTICE DHIRAJ SINGH THAKUR SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI : 2nd September 2025 DATE PC : The appellants are all lessees of the Guntur Municipal Corporation who had been leased out shop premises as far back as in the year 1999 on varying rates. 2. The outer limit of lease, which is otherwise permitted being only 25 years, the said premises were made the subject matter of auction yet again, which has been completed in the month of August 2025. As against the paltry sum of Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 10,000/- which were earlier paid by the lessees, now 2 bids have been received which are in the proximity of Rs. 27,000/- and there about. Some of the appellants also appear to have participated in the auction process but were not successful in the said bidding process. They are now sought to be evicted by the Municipal Corporation. In that regard, notices were issued which were responded to by the appellants. The petitioners challenge the procedure adopted by the official respondents in evicting them from the premises in question on the ground that notwithstanding the fact that the period of lease has since expired, the eviction could have been ordered by an Estate Officer duly appointed in terms of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1968 (for short, “the Act”). It is not denied that there is no Estate Officer appointed by the Government or the Corporation in terms of the aforementioned Act and that the notices were issued by the Additional Commissioner of the Guntur 3. Municipal Corporation. There cannot be any dispute that the eviction ought to be ordered only in terms of the provisions of the aforementioned Act and the argument that there was no Estate Officer appointed would not justify the action of the Corporation in resorting to any other procedure. 4. The learned single Judge, however, did not accept the plea of the appellants, who were petitioners before the learned single Judge, and made clear that they would have to hand over the possession of the shops to the 5. 3 Municipal Corporation, Guntur by the date of finalization of the auction proceedings. It is precisely against this part of the order that the appellants feel aggrieved of. 6. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties. 7. There is no doubt in our mind that the only procedure which ought to be resorted to evict a lessee, who is otherwise holding over beyond the period of expiry of the lease, would be under the provisions of the aforementioned Act by duly appointing an officer as an Estate Officer who could then carry out the eviction proceedings. This certainly has not been done. 8. Be that as it may, the Corporation would be appellants by adopting the due at liberty to evict the Kiocedure as is otherwise prescribed under the aforementioned Act by appointing an Estate Officer who undertakes the f-\r exercise in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. However, while it may be true that the appellants cannot be evicted otherwise than in due course of law, yet, they cannot be permitted to take advantage of the fact that the Government has not nominated an Estate Officer to undertake the eviction proceedings. 9. The fact that the lease rentals which were being paid by the appellants were fixed as far back as in the year 1999 which were being increased partially from time to time and considering the fact that in the fresh auction process, the lease rentals have since increased as have been offered by those who have been held successful in the bidding process, the appellants 4 cannot be permitted to take advantage of holding over on the basis of lease rentals which were otherwise paid to them on the unrevised rates. We, therefore, hold that while the appellants would be entitled to 10. continue till such time as they are duly evicted in terms of the provisions of the aforementioned Act, they would be under an obligation to pay the lease rentals at the same rates which are now offered by successful bidders in regard to their respective shops with effect from the finalization of the bid process. The amounts which are due shall be paid on a monthly basis failing which it shall be open to the Corporation to proceed to seal the shops and take appropriate action. Accordingly, the Writ Appeal is disposed of. No order as to costs. 11. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed. Sd/-VD1WAKAR deputy RglSTRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The Principal Secretary Municipal Administration Department, State of Andhra Pradesh, Secretariat Building, Velagapudi, Amaravathi, Guntur District. 2. The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Guntur, Guntur, Guntur District, A.P. 3. The Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Guntur, Guntur, Guntur District, A.P. 4. One CC to Sri Ghanta Sridhar, Advocate [OPUC] 5. One CC to Sri A. S. C. Bose, SC for Municipal Corporations [OPUC] 6. Two CCs to GP for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. [OUT] 7. Two CD Copies. HIGH COURT DATED:02/09/2025 JUDGMENT WA No. 944 OF 2025 %( 18 SEP 2025 jg) ^^>sQiirrent Sectio|x^^ disposing of the w.a. without costs