Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

Accused No.3 and his companies - accused Nos.4, 7, 8 and 9, the petitioners herein to obtain grant from the Government, M/s.Penna Cement Industries Limited represented by its General Manager (Works), Sri C.J.Reddy, submitted representation dated 22.04.2006 to the District Collector, Anantapur, requested for alienation of Government land on payment of market value, for setting up of cement plant in the Yadiki Mandal of Anantapur District.

In view of the representation, the then District Revenue Officer, Anantapur District, who was in-charge Joint Collector, forwarded the request of M/s Penna Cement Industries to the Revenue Divisional Officer (R.D.O.), Anantapur on 02.06.2006, for identifying the Government Lands having road access and to take further action on the representation.

It is an admitted fact that the land of an extent of Ac.231.09 cents originally belongs to the government and it was assigned to the landless poor persons in different extents. Sri P.Prathap Reddy

- Accused No.3 being the Chairman & Managing Director of M/s Penna Cement Industries Limited intended to establish a Cement factory at Yadiki Mandal of Anantapur District and applied for alienation of Ac.231.09 cents to the District Collector, Anantapur on 22.04.2006. On the basis of application, the District Revenue Officer, Anantapur District forwarded the request to the Revenue Divisional Officer (R.D.O), Anantapur on 02.06.2006 for identifying the Government Lands having road access and to take further action on the representation. Again M/s Penna Cement Industries Limited submitted a representation on 25.08.2006 to the District Collector, Anantapur wherein, it was stated that M/s Penna Cement Industries Limited has purchased patta lands enclosing MSM,J 43 Crlps_9034 and 9035 _2015 Government lands and also sought allotment of an extent of Ac.144.13 cents in Kundanakota Village and Ac.96.83 cents in Gudipadu Village, Government Land for setting up of the said cement plant. Subsequently, on 18.09.2006, M/s Penna Cement Industries Limited requested for alienation of land to the extent of Ac.30.71 in Kamalapadu Village and Ac.1.25 cents in Kundanakota Village. The petitioner's/A-3 request, in the two letters or representations is specific that, a request was made for allotment of land in particular survey numbers and thereafter, process has been initiated for allotment of land. But, more curiously, during consideration of two applications, the beneficiaries under the assignment granted in their favour or in favour of predecessors in title, who came up with representation that their right in the assigned land in survey numbers is being relinquished by various farmers, whose lands were acquired by A-3 for setting up a cement plant. It is a known fact that, land assigned to the landless poor is not alienable, but heritable, in view of the terms and conditions of the assignment, vide B.S.O.No.15 and in view of the bar under Section 3 of A.P.Act 9 of 1977, the Revenue Authorities shall resume the assigned land in the event of contravention of Section 3(1) by following the procedure prescribed under Section 4 of The Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977. When there is an absolute bar, the beneficiaries under the assignments cannot alienate, such alienation is void abnitio. Even if, Sri P. Prathap Reddy - accused No.3 purchased the assigned property from the landless poor, such purchase would not confer any valid title on him. Therefore, Sri P.Prathap Reddy-Accused No.3 and his employees by MSM,J 44 Crlps_9034 and 9035 _2015 circumventing the law, invented a different story of relinquishing rights by the beneficiaries over the assigned lands by submitting their stereo-typed applications for surrender of the lands assigned to them. Therefore, the petitioner/accused No.3, by hatching a plan in collusion with the pattedars and the beneficiaries in the assignment, made specific mention of various survey numbers in the request made to the Government. But, the Government instead of resuming the land by following B.S.O.No.33 of A.P. Revenue Board Standing Orders and even without accepting such relinquishment of the land, started proceedings for alienation of the property by following certain business rules of the Secretariat.

Sri Deepak Kumar Panwar, IAS (Retd) (L.W-8) in his statement, stated that, in case of proposal of alienation for Ac.231.09 cents of land, the market value was recommended by the Empowered Committee duly taking into consideration the recommendation of the Collector as well as sale Statistics of similar lands within the vicinity of the land, proposed for alienation, as per rules. The land of i.e., Ac.2.44 cents which has the potentiality of providing road accessibility, was not comparable to the land covered under the sale proposal i.e. Ac.231.09 cents because the MSM,J 46 Crlps_9034 and 9035 _2015 latter did not have the same distinct locational advantage of its being used for providing road accessibility/railway line connectivity to the proposed cement plant. Therefore, the Empowered Committee did not consider the earlier recommended market value of the land Ac.2-44 cents as relevant and representative of real market value of land i.e Ac.231-09 cents which was recommended by the Empowered Committee to be Rs.50,000/- per acre as against the recommendation at the rate of Rs.20,000/- per acre by the Collector.