Whether delay of twenty years can be condoned when notice of proceeding was not served on concerned party?

When notice was not served - delay of 20 years is immaterial = No notice was served on the petitioner while cancelling his possession certificate under A.P. Telegana Area Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act - Appeal after 20 years after coming to knowledge - joint collector dismissed - is in valid 

THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU

ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT

Civil Revision Petition No.2752 of 2013

Dated;24th July,2013.

ORDER:

This revision petition is sought to be filed against order of

Joint Collector, Mahboobnagar dismissing the appeal filed by

the revision petitioner on the ground of delay of twenty years.

The Joint Collector further observed that no substantial

reasons were urged for condoning the said delay.

It is contented by the revision petitioner’s counsel that the

order passed by the Joint Collector is without reason and

superficial.

It is the petitioner’s contention that he filed an

appeal before Joint Collector under Section 90(1) of Andhra

Pradesh (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural lands Act

1950, aggrieved by orders of Revenue Divisional Officer,

Narayanpet dated 03.06.1980 by which previous ownership

certificate issued in favour of the petitioner for land of

Ac.2-

27 gts in S.No.950 of Hasnabad village, Kodangal Mandal was

illegally cancelled without notice to the petitioner and behind

the back of the petitioner. If the impugned order was passed

by the Revenue Divisional Officer without notice to the

petitioner, any amount of delay, may be of twenty years, has

got to be condoned, since the impugned order is per se illegal.

Therefore, the Joint Collector should have made scrutiny of file

No.

C/2459/1980

of

the

Revenue

Divisional

Officer,

Narayanpet after getting the said file, in order to find out

whether the previous order dated 03.06.1980 was passed

without notice to the petitioner.

Without doing the said

exercise, the Joint Collector should not have dismissed the

appeal on the ground of there being delay of twenty years in

filing the same.

In the result, the revision petition is allowed setting aside

order dated 09.12.2011 passed by the Joint Collector,

Mahboobnagar and remitting back the matter to the file of the

Joint Collector, Mahboobnagar for disposal of the same

according to law after doing the exercise indicated in this order.

___________________

SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU, J

24th July,2013.

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