PUSHPAGIRI MUTT Vs. CH ERIKALA REDDY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition is filed against the order dt. 4-2-2000 in I.A.No. 1063 of 1999 passed by the Court of Principal District Judge, Cuddapah, dismissing the application to condone the delay of 938 days in presenting the appeal against the order of the Principal District Munsif-cum-Special Officer in Andhra Tenancy Case (ATC) No. 4 of 1994 dt. 27-12-1996. Be it noted that the proceedings before the original authority were initiated by the tenant respondent herein under Sec. 10(1) of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Tenancy Act, 1956 (hereinafter called 'the Act').

(2.) The petitioner herein is Pushpagiri Mutt in Cuddapah. It owns considerable extents of lands. The respondent herein is a cultivating tenant of the land admeasuring about Ac. 2.83 cents. He was inducted as a tenant in 1967. After taking the land on lease he made improvements including digging well and put up an underground pipeline for irrigating the land. The petitioner herein filed A.T.C.No. 1 of 1983 before the Special Officer for evicting the respondent. The same was dismissed on 11-6-1990. The appeal under Section 16 of the Act by the petitioner herein being A.T.A.No. 3 of 1990 was also dismissed on 19-3-1994.

(3.) In the meanwhile, the State Legislature amended the provisions of the Act by Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1974 (Amendment Act) inserting sub-section (1) of Section 10, which provides that a person who is in possession of the land as a cultivating tenant will be considered as having perpetual lease to the property. As he was in possession of the land for more than 25 years, the respondent approached the Principal District Munsif - cum-Special Officer, Cuddapah under Section 10(1) of the Act and filed A.T.C.No. 4 of 1994. He sought for a declaration that he is perpetual tenant and also sought a direction to the petitioner herein to renew the lease. The petitioner opposed this. The Special Officer (the Court of District Munsif) examined the tenant as P.W. 1 and the Manager of the petitioner as R.W. 1 and marked Exs. A-1 to A-8 for the tenant. By an elaborate order following the judgment of this Court in J. Veeraswami vs. Sub-Collector, Narsapur partly allowed A.T.C.No. 4 of 1994 declaring the respondent herein as a perpetual tenant and also directed the petitioner to offer the land to the petitioner (sic. respondent) if they intend to sell the same. The said order was passed on 27-12-1996.