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1. A short but an important question of law of general importance which arises for consideration and resolution in these three Writ Petitions is that whether it granted to the landless poor persons in Form 'D' Patta (Appendix.V) under Standing Order (S.O.) No. 15 of the Andhra Pradesh Board of Revenue Standing Orders for the purpose of allotting the same to a Cooperative Society for establishing an additional Milk Processing Plant (Dairy) by virtue of power reserved for them either under Condition 17 of the Conditions of the said Form 'D' Patta or Under Section 4(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, hereinafter shortly referred to as 'the Act'. This question arises in the following facts-situation of these cases.

a) take possession of the assigned land after evicting the person in possession in such manner as may be prescribed; and
(b) restore the assigned land to the original assignee or his legal heir, or where it is not reasonably precticable to restore the land to such assignee or legal heir, resume the assigned land to Government for assignment to landless poor persons in accordance with the rules for the time being in force:
Provided that the assigned land shall not be so restored to the original assignee or his legal heir more than once, and in case the original assignee or his legal heir transfers the assigned land again after such restoration, it shall be resumed to the Government for assignment to any other landless poor person.

25. This takes us to the case in W.P.No. 1640 of 1994. In this case, the lands in question are sought to be resumed by the second respondent by virtue of the power granted to him Under Section 4(1) of the Act.

26. Statement of Objects and Reasons for enacting the Act reads thus:

"The Government have launched, with effect from the 1st November, 1969, a special crash programe for assignment of Government waste lands to the landless poor persons. The rules regarding assignment of land and the conditions incorporation in 'D' form pattas prohibit alienation of such However, past experience has shown that substantial extents of lands assigned to landless poor persons have been actually alienated and are in possession of well-to-do persons. As the existing rules do not have any provision for punishment of persons who have purchased such lands, efforts made for assigning large extent of lands to landless poor persons going waste. With a view to enforce the objective more effectively it is considered that a protective legislation is necessary so as to prescribe a punishment to persons who have purchased such lands. Further, there have been requests from time to time, for enacting a protective legislation against transfers and alienations of assigned lands on the model of Legislation existing in regard to the Scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled areas of Andhra Pradesh, which prohibits alienation of lands and provides for restoration of such lands to the assignees. It has therefore been decided to undertake legislation immediately to prohibit alienation of lands assigned to landless poor persons and to provide for punishment of purchasers of such land".

27. The preamble to the Act declares that this Act was enacted by the lagislature of the State of Andhra Pradesh to prohibit transfers of certain lands assigned to landless poor persons in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The Act is a piece of social welfare legislation solely intended to protect the interest of the beneficiaries under the Act, namely, landless poor persons, statutorily declaring that any transfer of the land granted in favour of any landless poor person should be deemed never to have been transferred and no right or title in such assigned land should vest in any person acquiring the land by such transfer. Section 3 further declares that any transfer or acquisition made in contravention of the provisions of Sub-section (1) or Sub-section (2) of Section resumption of the assigned land and restoring the same to the original assignee or his legal heir. The proviso to Clause (2) of Section 4(1) of the Act provides that if for any reason the resumed land cannot be restored to the original assignee or his legal heir, such land should be resumed to the Government for assignment to any other landless person. In a way the Act is a self contained code, in the sense that it provides for resumption, restoration and distribution of the assigned lands. The power granted to the authorities under the provisions of the Act are required to be invoked only for satisfying the objectives of the Act. The provisions of the Act do not arm the respondents 1 and 2 to resume the lands for the purpose of providing the same to a Co-operative Society. If law grants to an authority a power to be used for an authorised purpose, then the power is only validly exercised when it is used by such authority genuinely for that purpose as its dominant purpose, If that purpose is not the main purpose but is subordinated to some other purpose which is not authorised by law, then such authority exceeds its powers and the action is liable to be condemned as invalid and ultra vires of the law. In the present case, admittedly the lands covered by Writ Petition No. 1640 of 1994 are sought to be resumed by virtue of a power granted to the second respondent Under Section 4(1) of the Act for the purpose of providing the same to the third respondent-Co-operative Society on the alleged ground of contravention of Sub-section (2) of Section3 of the Act. As already pointed out the provisions of the Act do not contemplate resumption of the lands for such purpose and therefore it should be held that the impugned action is illegal and ultra vires of the Act.