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2) Brief facts:-

(a) One Mohd. Ruknuddin Ahmed and 10 others were the original owners of land admeasuring 526.07 acres in Survey No. 83 situated at Village Raidurg (Panmaktha) of Ranga Reddy District in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Out of the said land, an extent of 252.33 acres is assessed to revenue as cultivable agricultural land and the remaining extent of 273.14 acres is treated as pote-kharab(un-

cultivable) land. On 07.07.1974, the owners executed registered General Power of Attorney (hereinafter referred to as "GPA") in favour of a partnership firm known as "Sri Venkateswara Enterprises" represented by its Managing Partners A. Ramaswamy and A. Satyanarayana. On 01.01.1975, the A.P. Land Reforms Act, 1975 came into force. Since the land in Survey No.83 was an agricultural land, the said owners filed eleven declarations under the A.P. Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as "the Land Reforms Act") and the Authority under the Land Reforms Act declared about 99 acres as surplus in the hands of 4 declarants and possession was also taken on 11.04.1975. The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as `the ULC Act') came into force on 17.02.1976. The owners, through their GPA, filed declarations under Section 6(1) of the ULC Act under a mistaken impression that the ULC Act was applicable to their land, though the same was inapplicable for the reason that the land in question was agricultural land and the same was not included in the Master Plan as on the date of commencement of the ULC Act. On 01.07.1977, draft statements under Section 8(1) of the ULC Act together with notice under Section 8(3) were served inviting objections to the draft statement prepared under Section 8(1) of the ULC Act but no orders were passed on any of the declarations. On 06.12.1979 & 25.01.1980, final statements under Section 9 were issued declaring the surplus area by each of the declarant. On 16.09.1980 & 30.01.1980, the Competent Authority issued notification under Section 10(1) of the ULC Act.

455 and 456.

(i) Before the High Court, four writ petitions were filed by the purchasers, owners as well as Chanakyapuri Cooperative Housing Society Limited, Secunderabad.

(j) Writ Petition No. 4121 of 2006 has been filed by Smt. K. Anjana Devi and 45 others who claim to be the purchasers of a small extent of land forming part of Survey No. 83 of Village Raidurg, Ranga Reddy District. They claim to have purchased the said lands from the GPA Holder of the original land owners. Writ Petition No. 4144 of 2006 has been filed by Om Prakash Verma and 43 others who also claim to be purchasers of small extent of land forming part of Survey No. 83 Village Raidurg, Ranga Reddy District from the said GPA. Writ Petition No. 4141 of 2006 has been filed by Ahmed Abdul Aziz and 14 others who claim to be the owners of the land of an extent of acres 526.07 guntas in Survey No. 83. Writ Petition No. 5776 of 2006 has been filed by Chanakyapuri Cooperative Housing Society Limited, Secunderabad, which claims to be the holder of Agreement to Sell dated 09.08.1974 allegedly executed by the GPA holder of the owners of the land in Survey No. 83 Village Raidurg, Ranga Reddy District.

Issues:

4) The main question in these appeals is whether the proceedings of the Competent Authority under Sections 8, 9 and 10 of the ULC Act in relation to the land in Survey No. 83 of Village Raidurg of Ranga Reddy District declared by the Division Benches by its judgment dated 28.10.1994 and 04.12.1996 in Writ Appeal Nos. 1220 and 918 of 1994 respectively, as void, stood restored by virtue of judgment of this Court in Audikesava Reddy's case (supra) as claimed in G.O. Ms. No. 161 dated 13.02.2006. In other words, what actually is the adjudication contained in Audikesava Reddy's case (supra) is the question involved for determination. The adjudication contained in the Audikesava Reddy's case (supra) admittedly was in relation to the same land in Survey No. 83 situated in village Raidurg and between the same parties. In the earlier part of our judgment, we have already set out the facts which led to the filing of C.A. Nos. 3813 of 1996 and 7239 of 2001 in this Court by the respondent-State in Audikesava Reddy's case (supra).

23) It is clear that once leave was granted by this Court in the special leave petitions filed against the Division Bench of the High Court in the earlier round of litigation and the consequent civil appeals arising therefrom filed by the State Government is allowed by this Court, the judgment of the Division Bench lost its identity and merged with the judgment of this Court. The said judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court, therefore, cannot be relied upon for any purpose whatsoever. Even on merits, it is relevant to point out that the arguments of the appellants that the lands in issue became amenable to the ULC Act only upon extension of Master Plan thereto on 23.06.1980 and that the declaration made prior to such date is non est is not acceptable and sustainable. As a matter of fact, the stand of the State Government has through out been that the lands in issue were not agricultural lands but were vacant lands under the ULC Act even in 1976 when the declaration was made by the owners under Section 6 of the ULC Act, hence the declaration and all action taken consequent thereto are valid in law. This position or stand of the State Government is clear and reiterated in its writ appeal filed by way of counter affidavit before the Division Bench of the High Court and before this Court in the present proceedings. It was brought to our notice that the appellants conceded before the High Court that the lands in issue were part of urban agglomeration even when the declaration under Section 6 of the ULC Act was enforced. In addition to the same, it was also brought to our notice that by an agreement dated 09.08.1974, the lands in issue were sold by the owners to a society, namely, Chanakyapuri Cooperative Housing Society which got a layout plan sanctioned on 20.10.1975 by Raidurg Gram Panchayat for construction of houses on the said lands. These materials clearly show that the lands were not agricultural lands even prior to declaration filed under Section 6 of the ULC Act by the owners in 1976. Any land not being agricultural land and falling within an urban agglomeration, constitutes vacant land as defined in Section 2(q) of the ULC Act. The lands in issue, therefore, constitute vacant land on the date of filing of declaration under Section 6 of the ULC Act by the owners in 1976. As per Section 6 of the ULC Act, declaration was required to be filed in respect of vacant land, such declaration was correctly filed by the owners hence, subsequent extension of master plan to the lands in issue on 23.06.1980 has no relevance to the validity of the declaration made in 1976 or to the proceedings initiated under the ULC Act pursuant to such declaration. It is not in dispute that the proceedings under the ULC Act were not challenged by the owners at any stage as provided by the statute. The notification under Section 10(3) of the ULC Act stating that the surplus land would be deemed to have been acquired by the State Government and the same shall vest absolutely in the State Government free from all encumbrances was issued even as early as on 24.01.1981 which was allowed to become final in the absence of any appeal being filed against such notification as provided by the statute. Once vesting takes place under Section 10(3) of the Ceiling Act, the State has absolute title and ownership over it. The owner has no further say in respect of the land that has vested in the State. This position has been explained by us in Smt. Sulochana Chandrakant Galande vs. Pune Municipal Transport & Ors., 2010 (7) Scale 571 as under: