TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (7) TMI 1187
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.... impleadment. Company Application No.6 of 2013 is filed by the State o f Andhra Pradesh, represented by the District Collector, Prakasam District, Ongole, the Revenue Divisional Officer, Ongole and the Tahsildar, Ongole, to set-aside the auction in respect of Ac.239-85 cents of Ulichi village and delivering vacant possession of the said land to the Government. For easy reference, the applicants in this application are referred to as "the State". The facts leading to the filing of the present applications are briefly stated hereunder: M/s. Auriferous Aqua Farms Ltd., purchased Ac.350- 00 of land in various survey numbers of Ulichi and Devarampadu villages, Prakasam District from the purported owners of the lands under registered sale deeds. For convenience the said company is referred to as "the company in liquidation". In a creditor's winding up petition, this Court has ordered winding up of the company in liquidation. The company in liquidation has mortgaged Ac.350-00 of land purchased by it to the Federal Bank Limited and obtained loan. In the auction held by the Official Liquidator on 21-1-2010 the auction purchaser has offered the highest bid of Rs. 3-06 crores. This Court, ....
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....the auction purchaser; that the Government issued G.O.Ms.No.1110, dated 15-9-2008 for alienation of Ac.6406.14 cents in favour of Vodarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor (VANPIC), which includes Ac.2079.15 cents of Devarampadu village and Ac.165.27 cents of Ulichi village; that before finalisation of alienation in favour of VANPIC a part of the said land was assigned to landless poor persons; that the Assignment Committee has approved the assignment on 20-9-2008; that, however, VANPIC purchased the lands from the assignees in the year 2008; that under G.O.Ms.No.233, dated 21-2-2009, the market value for payment of ex-gratia to the assignees was fixed and VANPIC has paid the amount to the assignees and taken over the land and that a CBI enquiry is pending on the allotment of lands to VANPIC. He has further stated that all the records relating to the lands are being looked into and the Revenue Department reserves its right to file a detailed affidavit. The District Collector, Ongole has filed an affidavit in support of Company Application No.1528/2011. She has stated that the persons who sold large extents of lands to the company in liquidation have no title over the lands and ....
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....tion of Transfers) Act, 1977 (for short "the 1977 Act") and that the same shall be treated as null and void. Adverting to the above mentioned counter-affidavit, this Court, by order dated 7-6-2012 observed that the counter-affidavit is silent as to the lands assigned in the years 1921, 1936 and from 1950 onwards. The learned Judge further observed that prior to the formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh, w.e.f. 1-10-1953, BSO-15 did not prohibit alienation of assigned lands and that the said BSO was amended w.e.f. 18-6-1954, from which date alienation of assigned lands was prohibited; that if the lands were assigned prior to 18-6-1954 they could not have been reassigned from the year 1970 in the absence of prohibition on alienation and except 10(1) Account Register from November 1969 onwards, the Collector has not produced any other record and that having admitted in her counteraffidavit that the lands were assigned in the years 1921, 1936 and from 1950 onwards, the Collector ought to have placed the relevant records before the Court, based on which she has made the said assertion. The learned Judge further directed that if the lands were assigned earlier and were resumed, those....
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....1921, 1936 and from 1950 onwards as directed by this Court. She has admitted that in column No.13 of Ex.A-2-RSR, the names of several pattadars have been shown and that she is unable to explain as to why column No.4 has shown the lands as belonging to the Government. PW-1 feigned ignorance whether by the time of preparation of RSR, pattas were granted to private individuals and that because of that reason, the names of private persons have been mentioned in column No.13 of Ex.A-2. She admitted that there is variation in extents mentioned between Ex.A-2-RSR and the affidavit filed by her in lieu of chief-examination in respect of Sy.No.421. PW-1 admitted that she has not mentioned the details of the assignments made in respect of the lands stated to have been assigned in the year 1968. She has stated that she does not know the reason for not producing the Village Accounts prior to the year 1956. She further explained that as the records for the said period were kept in old records room, they could not be traced. She further deposed that as the names in Ex.A-3 were changed, she has stated in her chief-affidavit that 10(1) Account Register was tampered. She has also pleaded ignorance ....
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.... the 1977 Act. She has admitted that as per letter dated 23-1-2012 of the Assistant Director addressed to the Commissioner of Survey and Settlements (Ex.B-1), Ac.150-00 is in possession of M/s. VANPIC Projects Pvt. Ltd. and that the same is fenced. From the pleadings of the parties and the evidence on record, the only issue that needs to be considered is whether the extent of Ac.239.85 cents purchased by the auction purchaser is liable to be deleted from the auction sale in favour of the State? The bone of contention of the State is that the lands purchased by the company in liquidation from various private persons are assigned lands which contained a clause on prohibition of alienation. It is not disputed that the assignments granted in respect of the lands in the Andhra Area prior to issuance of G.O.Ms.No.1142, dated 18-6-1954, did not contain a clause prohibiting their alienation and that for the first time such a prohibition was incorporated in the said G.O. Obviously, realising this settled legal position, the Collector, who has initially committed herself in her affidavit filed in Company Application No.1528/2011 that the assignment of the lands in question was started from....
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....revenue records were tampered at the instance of the company in liquidation. It is not possible for this Court to decide in these applications as to who is responsible for the alleged tampering. However, the State, being the custodian of record, burden lies on it to explain as to who tampered the record. The State should take the responsibility for tempering of the record and benefit of doubt in this regard must go to the claimants of the land. What this Court is unable to comprehend is the failure of the State to produce the Assignment Registers for the period prior to 1969. As noted above, PW-1 in her evidence stated that these records are kept in old record room. Substantial time was granted to the State to produce the Assignment Registers. Despite availing such time, the State failed to produce these records. The non-production of the Assignment Registers for the earlier periods would give rise to an adverse inference against the State that it has deliberately withheld the record to suppress the fact that the lands were assigned prior to 18-6-1954 and that once again they are being shown as having been assigned from the year 1969 onwards. This inference is supported by the fol....
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....VANPIC Projects Pvt. Ltd. under G.O.Ms.No.1110, dated 15-9-2008. It has come out in the pleadings as well as the evidence adduced by the State that possession of the land was handed over to the said company. It is also not in dispute that the said alienation has not been cancelled by the Government so far. Though M/s. VANPIC Projects Pvt. Ltd. has been impleaded as respondent No.7 and notice has been served on it, no one appeared for the said company. Therefore, the State, which parted with the title vested, if any, in it on account of alienation made to M/s. VANPIC Projects Pvt. Ltd. cannot maintain the application in respect of Ac.165- 27 cents. The State has got the Darkhast file marked as Ex.A-5 and also produced a few assignment copies in order to fortify their plea that the assignments were made after 18-6- 1954. As observed earlier, Ex.A-5-Register contains several corrections regarding the names of the alleged assignees by rounding off the names originally written and writing fresh names. It is the common case of both the parties that revenue records have been tampered with. As the State has failed to prove that the assignments containing the condition of non-alienation we....