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12. The President of the Trust in order to facilitate the smooth operation alienation of lands belonging to the Trust applied for and obtained the Certificate dated 20-4-1982 from the Special Officer and Competent Authority, Urban Land Ceilings, Hyderabad declaring that the 'Gurukul Ghatkeswar' Trust satisfies with the conditions laid down in Clause VI of Sub-section (1) of Section 19 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (for short 'the ULC Act') and as such the vacant lands held by the Trust are entitled to get the benefit of exemption provided in Section 19 (1) subject to the provisions of Section 19 (2) of the ULC Act. The said certificate has been issued in respect of an extent of Ac.421-17 guntas of vacant land in Khanamet Village and Ac.167-11 guntas of vacant land in Izzatnagar Village, totally for an extent of Ac.588-28 guntas. That is how; initially the operation alienation was commenced by transferring the lands in favour of the chosen Co-operative House Building Societies and as well as some individuals.

15. The whole case set up by the said Society is based upon the certificate dated 20-4-1982 issued by the Special Officer and Competent Authority referred to hereinabove declaring that the lands held by the Trust are entitled to get the benefit of exemption provided under Section 19(1) of the ULC Act subject to the provisions of Section 19(2) of the ULC Act. That the Society having purchased the said land applied for and got the layout approved and thereafter allotted the plots to its members and got them registered in their favour and in such view of the matter there is no justification to raise any objection at a later stage questioning the validity of sales and transfers. The whole burden of the song is that the land held by the said Society is exempted from the operation of the provisions of the ULC Act. The sale deeds were executed by the Trust for a valid consideration and there were no legal impediments for purchasing the said lands belonging to the Trust. That is all what has been stated in the affidavit filed in support of the said writ petition.

16. The Government as well as the Fit Person representing the Trust filed detailed counter-affidavits opposing the claim of the said Society and we shall briefly advert to the salient features of the counters filed by them.

17. The case set up by the Government is that the purchase of the lands from the Trust is one of the unauthorised transactions of the management of the Trust. Having regard to the purpose for which the Gurukul Ghatkeshwar has been established, it is a charitable institution as defined in the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1966 (Act 17 of 1966) and as well as the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 (Act 30 of 1987) and its properties are charitable endowments. The combined effect of these provisions is that an alienation made by the Trust without the sanction of the Commissioner is null and void. The land, in law, still belongs to the Trust since the alienations made by the Trust without the prior sanction of the Commissioner is void. The Trust's right to title and possession is not effected in any manner. It is asserted that the issues arising under the provisions of the ULC Act and the issues arising under the provisions of Act 17 of 1966 and Act 30 of 1987 cannot be mixed up. The writ petitioner-society may have permission/exemption under the provisions of the ULC Act, but not the requisite prior permission of the Competent Authority under the provisions of the Act 30 of 1987.

27. Sri M.N. Narasimha Reddy, appearing on behalf of Sri Swamy Ayyappa Co-operative Housing Society Limited-respondent-writ petitioner in writ appeals, contended that various proceedings issued by the Competent Authorities themselves reveal that the lands that were held and alienated are exempted under the provisions of the ULC Act. Necessary enquiries were made as to the validity of the transfers under the provisions of the ULC Act and in the process the Government and various other authorities had noticed the sale of the lands by the President of the Trust ever since 1982 and in spite of such notice, no objection has been raised for such alienation until 1998 when the Government as well as the Endowment authorities have started raising objections as to the validity of the sale transactions. It was submitted that vested rights cannot be unsettled in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner by the authorities. It was also contended that the proceedings have been initiated against the writ petitioner-society alone and not against all the Co-operative House Building Societies and various individuals who purchased the lands from the very same President of the Trust, which is nothing but discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It was also contended that the permission by the Competent Authority under the provisions of the Act 17 of 1966 and Act 30 of 1987 is directory since it is only an enabling provision. It is not as if the properties of the Trust can never be sold under any circumstances. The prior requirement of obtaining permission from the Competent Authority under the provisions of the Act 17 of 1966 and Act 30 of 1987 before alienation of the properties of the Trust is only a procedural one.