MANGA RAM MURTHY Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR WARANGAL DISTRICT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The four petitioners in W.P. No.22277 of 2003 are residents of Chandruni Cheruvu village. They filed the writ petition seeking a declaration that the action of the respondents in not including their names in the voters" list of Chanaruni Cheruvu Water Users Association (WUA), Gudur, Warangal District as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the A.P. Farmers' Management of Irrigation Systems Act, 1997 ('the Act'). They also seek a consequential direction to include their names in the voters' list of Chandruni Cheruvu WUA, Gudur.

(2.) The case of the petitioners in brief is as follows. The petitioners claim that they are owners of agricultural lands in various survey numbers. They also claim that they are cultivating the land under the ayacut of Chandrum Cheruvu minor irrigation tank situated at Gudur village. They allege that they are members of the WUA. Since there was no election for WUA, a temporary panel of members constituted by the executive committee was approved by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Narsampet, by an order dated 12-1-2003. The second petitioner's name was also included as one of nominated territorial constituency members.

(3.) The second respondent issued a public notice of election to fix territorial constituency of Chandruni Cheruvu WUA. The election is scheduled on 23-10-2003. When the voters' list was released, the names of the petitioners were not included. The petitioners brought it to the notice of the second respondent that they requested to include their names in the voters' list, in vain. Therefore, they filed the present writ petition.