APHC010348522019 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3333] WEDNESDAY, THE 16th DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2026 PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE V.SUJATHA WRIT PETITION NO: 16639/2019 Between: 1. M/S.GORANTLA ASSOCIATES,, REP. BY ITS MANAGING PARTNER, SMT. GORANTLA SUKANYA, W/O. G.V. RAMANA SETTY, AGED ABOUT 50 YEARS, R/O. 50/760/B-10, GAYATRI ESTATES, KURNOOL, ANDHRA PRADESH. 2. L. SATHYANARAYANA,, S/O. L. NAGAIAH, AGED ABOUT 70 YEARS, R/O. JOHNY COMPLEX, NEAR LIC OFFICE, KURNOOL, ANDHRA PRADESH. 3. G. PUNDARIKAKSHAIAH SETTY,, S/O. G. SUBRAMANYAM, AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS, R/O. LAXMI GARDENS, KURNOOL, ANDHRA PRADESH. 4. G. VISHWAJEET,, S/O. G.V. RAMANA SETTY, AGED ABOUT 29 YEARS, R/O. 50/760/B-10, GAYATRI ESTATES, KURNOOL, ANDHRA PRADESH. 5. ANNEM CHANDRAHASA,, W/O. V. RAGHU CHAKRAVARTHI, AGED ABOUT 33 YEARS, R/O. D.NO.43-128H, NEAR R.R. RESIDENCY APARTMENTS, SRINIVAS NAGAR, KURNOOL, ANDHRA PRADESH. ...PETITIONER(S) AND 1. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, REP. BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, REVENUE DEPARTMENT, .A.P. SECRETARIAT, VELAGAPUDI, AMARAVATHI, GUNTUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA 2 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 PRADESH. 2. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, _KURNOOL DISTRICT. 3. THE REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER, KURNOOL, KURNOOL DISTRICT. 4. THE TAHSILDAR, KALLUR MANDAL, KURNOOL DISTRICT. 5. THE DISTRICT REGISTRAR, KURNOOL. 6. THE SUBREGISTRAR, KALLUR MANDAL, KURNOOL DISTRICT. ...RESPONDENT(S): Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Orders, Direction or Directions to declare the action of the 2nd respondent in including the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District in the list of prohibited properties U/s.22A of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and to issue a consequential direction to direct the 6d1 respondent to receive and register the documents pertaining to the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District, without reference to the list of prohibited properties communicated by the 2nd respondent, and pass IA NO: 1 OF 2019 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 6th respondent to receive and register the documents pertaining to the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District, without reference to the list of prohibited properties communicated by the 2nd respondent, pending disposal of the Writ Petition and pass IA NO: 1 OF 2023 3 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 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 pleased to grant leave to the Petitioner herein/ respondent No.4 in the writ petition No.16639 of 2019 to file the counter affidavit in the above writ petition and pass Counsel for the Petitioner(S): 1. VEDULA SRINIVAS Counsel for the Respondent(S): 1. GP FOR REVENUE (AP) The Court made the following: 4 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 ORDER: This Writ Petition came to be filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking the following prayer: “…to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Orders, Direction or Directions to declare the action of the 2nd respondent in including the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District in the list of prohibited properties U/s.22A of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and to issue a consequential direction to direct the 6d1 respondent to receive and register the documents pertaining to the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District, without reference to the list of prohibited properties communicated by the 2nd respondent, and pass…” 2. The case of the petitioners is that they are the owners and possessors of the lands situated in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, Kallur Mandal, Kurnool District, having purchased the same under registered sale deeds from their respective vendors, namely V. Brahma Reddy and G. Arundhati @ Arundhatamma. The Government contemplated to establish Greyhounds Regional Commando Unit at Kurnool and the Inspector General of Police, Greyhounds, Hyderabad directed the District Collector to locate the land and accordingly, the District Collector issued orders for acquiring Acs.246.19 cents of Laxmipuram village for establishing the proposed unit. 5 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 3. As the said extent of land includes the lands in Sy.Nos.791, 792 and 790/1 of Laxmipuram village, which were owned by the petitioners’ vendors at the relevant point of time, they approached the competent Civil Court by filing suits for permanent injunction, restraining the defendants from interfering with their possession and enjoyment of their respective lands. The Court below, after conducting an elaborate trial, passed a judgment and decree dated 24.01.2009 in O.S.No.355 of 2006 (filed by V. Brahma Reddy in respect of the lands situated in Sy.No.761, 791 and 792) and another judgment and decree dated 19.01.2009 in O.S.No.143 of 2007 (filed by G. Arundhati @ Arundhatamma in respect of the lands situated in Sy.Nos792, 790/1 and 790/5) declaring that the subject lands are patta lands and not assigned lands; which attained finality. 4. Thereafter, the vendors of the petitioners requested the competent authorities for deletion of the subject lands from the list of assigned lands and to entertain transactions pertaining to the said lands vide application dated 23.11.2010; after following the due process of law, the then Revenue Divisional Officer, vide proceedings dated 21.04.2011 issued no objection for entertaining documents in respect of the subject lands. Subsequently, the petitioners’ vendors got converted the subject lands from agricultural purpose to non-agricultural purpose vide orders dated 05.12.2011 and 05.03.2011. The grievance of the petitioners is that, notwithstanding the above proceedings 6 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 and the decrees passed by the competent Civil Court, the subject lands are still being included in the prohibited properties list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, thereby preventing registration of documents in respect of the said lands. 5. As such, the petitioners submitted representations to the competent authorities seeking deletion of the lands from the prohibited list upon which, the Tahsildar and the Revenue Divisional Officer submitted reports recommending deletion of the subject lands from the prohibited list. However, till date, the District Collector has not passed any orders on the said recommendations. Aggrieved by the action of the 2nd respondent in not deleting the subject property from the list of prohibited properties under Section 22-A of the Registration Act and the action of the 6th respondent in not entertaining the documents submitted for registration pertaining to the subject lands, the present writ petition is filed. 6. The 4th respondent filed a counter affidavit stating that the lands in Sy.Nos.790 and 791, along with other survey numbers of Laxmipuram Village, were located for establishment of the Grey Hounds Regional Commando Unit. In this regard, V. Brahma Reddy, one of the vendors of the petitioners approached the Principal Senior Civil Judge, Kurnool, by filing O.S.No.355 of 2006, which was decreed on 24.01.2009, treating the lands in Sy.Nos.791 and 792 as private patta lands and granting permanent injunction. 7 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 The said judgment attained finality as no appeal was preferred by the Government. Similarly, the other vendor of the petitioners G. Arundhati @ Arundhatamma filed O.S.No.143 of 2007 seeking declaration that the lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 790/5 and 792, having extents of Ac.4.40 cents, Ac.2.58 cents and Ac.9.30 cents respectively, are not assigned lands. The Civil Court, by judgment dated 19.01.2009, declared the subject lands as private patta lands and granted permanent injunction. Subsequently, an appeal was filed before the Principal District Judge, Kurnool with an inordinate delay of 2888 days, against the said judgment, which was dismissed on 25.03.2019. Thereafter, C.R.P.No.381 of 2021 was filed before this Court, which is pending adjudication. 7. It is further stated in the counter affidavit that pursuant to the reports submitted by the Tahsildar, Kallur, in the year 2011, the Revenue Divisional Officer, Kurnool, informed the Sub-Registrar, Kallur, that there was no objection for registration of lands in Sy.Nos.791 and 792. It is also admitted that the vendors of the petitioners applied for conversion of the lands and obtained conversion orders from the Revenue Divisional Officer, Kurnool, vide proceedings dated 05.03.2011 and 05.12.2011. However, it is contend that Sy.Nos.790 and 791 were included in the list of properties prohibited for registration on the basis of the entries in the old ROR, according to which the said lands were assigned in favour of depressed classes and were subject to 8 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 a condition of non-alienation. Therefore, Sy.No.790, including its subdivisions, and Sy.No.791 were included in the prohibited properties list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act. On the other hand, Sy.Nos.792/1 and 792/3 were deleted from the prohibited list as the said lands were not assigned lands. 8. It is further stated in the counter affidavit that G.O.Ms.No.575, Revenue (Assignment-I), dated 16.11.2018, provides for deletion of certain Government lands assigned prior to 18.06.1954 from the prohibited properties list and that it only applies to lands assigned without a condition of non- alienation. In the present case, the lands in Sy.Nos.790 and 791 were assigned in favour of depressed classes with a condition of non-alienation pursuant to G.O.Ms.No.3092, Revenue, dated 12.12.1940. Therefore, the said lands continue to be prohibited from alienation and were rightly included in the prohibited properties list. It is also contended that Sy.No.792/2 was included in the prohibited properties list as it is classified as National Highway road poramboke and constitutes Government land. Stating thus, the respondents requested to dismiss the writ petition. 9. Heard Ms. P. Priyanvita, learned counsel for the petitioners and learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue. 10. Perused the entire material available on record. The petitioners purchased the subject lands in Sy.Nos.790/1, 791 and 792 of Laxmipuram Village, under registered sale deeds from their respective vendors. It is their 9 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 case that the vendors’ title and possession over the subject lands were upheld by the competent Civil Court, which specifically declared that the subject lands are private patta lands and not assigned lands. The petitioners further contend that, pursuant to the said decrees, the Revenue Divisional Officer issued proceedings expressing no objection to entertain registration of documents in respect of the subject lands and the lands were also converted for non- agricultural purposes. Despite the same, the lands were listed in the prohibited properties list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act. 11. On the other hand, the respondents contend that, notwithstanding the decrees relied upon by the petitioners, the lands in Sy.Nos.790 and 791 were recorded in the old revenue records as assigned lands granted to depressed classes which should not be alienated. Therefore, the said lands were rightly included in the prohibited properties list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act. Therefore, the petitioners are not entitled to seek deletion of the lands from the prohibited list merely on the basis of the Civil Court decrees or the subsequent revenue proceedings. 12. It is clear from the record that the jurisdictional Civil Court, after adjudicating the dispute between the parties, declared the subject lands as private patta lands and that they are not assigned lands and granted permanent injunction in favour of the petitioners’ vendors. The judgment and decree dated 24.01.2009 in O.S.No.355 of 2006 and the judgment and decree 10 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 dated 19.01.2009 in O.S.No.143 of 2007 were not set aside. In respect of the judgment passed in O.S.No.143 of 2007, an appeal was preferred before the Principal District Judge, Kurnool with an inordinate delay of 2888 days which was also dismissed on 25.03.2019 in I.A.No.2771/2017 in CFR.No.10939/2017, and the subsequent Civil Revision Petition filed by the respondents was also dismissed by this Court as barred by limitation vide order dated 24.11.2025. Thus, insofar as the declaration of the Civil Court that the subject lands are not assigned lands is concerned, the respondents cannot disregard the findings recorded therein, particularly when the said judgments and decrees have attained finality. Admittedly, the lands in Sy.Nos.792/1 and 792/3 were deleted from the prohibited properties list having found that they were not assigned lands. However, the lands in Sy.Nos.790 and 791 were still listed in the prohibited properties list, notwithstanding the finding of the Civil Court in its judgment and decree dated 19.01.2009 in O.S.No.143 of 2007 that the subject lands are not assigned lands. Though the respondents preferred an appeal against the said judgment and decree, the same was dismissed vide judgment dated 25.03.2019. In the absence of any order staying or suspending the operation of the judgment and decree dated 19.01.2009, the respondents, once again relying upon the revenue records contend that the subject lands are assigned lands, which is untenable. 11 VS,J W.P.No.16639 of 2019 13. In view of the same, this writ petition is allowed. The petitioners are directed to submit an application before the Grievance Redressal Committee seeking deletion of the subject lands from the prohibited properties list, as contemplated under G.O.Ms.No.300, Revenue (Assn.I) Department, dated 05.07.2016. Upon submission of the said application, the 2nd respondent/District Collector shall consider the same and pass appropriate orders, in accordance with law, keeping in view the instructions issued by the Government vide G.O.Ms.No.444 Revenue (Registration-I) Department, dated 22.07.2026, as expeditiously as possible. It is made clear that once the subject properties have been deleted from the list of prohibited properties notified under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, the petitioners are at liberty to present documents for registration, in respect of the subject lands and the concerned authorities are directed to consider the same in accordance with law. 14. Accordingly, this writ petition is allowed. There shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in this Petition shall stand closed. _____________________ JUSTICE V.SUJATHA 16.09.2026 Gss