GAVARA GURUNADHA RAO Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The civil revision petition arises out of a declaration filed by the petitioner under Sec. 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973, hereinafter referred to as the Act, on behalf of a family unit consisting of himself and his wife. The Land Reforms Tribunal found that the holding of the family unit consists of land equivalent to 3.7317 standard holdings. On the ground that the family unit is entitled to retain land equivalent to one standard holding towards the ceiling area, the Land Reforms Tribunal determined the excess land to be surrendered by the family unit to be equivalent to 2.7377 standard holdings. In the sppeal preferred by the petitioner, the Appellate Tribunal confirmed the same.

(2.) Sri A. Surya Rao, the learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted his arguments only on one point, which is dealt with below.

(3.) Point.-lt is the case of the petitioner that under Exs. A-1 to A-6 agreements of sale and under Exs. A-7 to A-11 registered sale deeds of the years 1965 to 1970, he has alienated several items of land and those lands have been in possession and enjoyment of the purchasers since the dates of either agreements of sale or of the registered sale deeds as the case may be and therefore the items of land covered by those agreement of sale and registered sale deeds are liable to be excluded from the consideration to compute his holding. The facts regarding the genuineness of the transactions covered by the agreements of sale and registered sale deeds and the purchasers being in possession and enjoyment of the lands since the agreements of sale and registered sale deeds are not in doubt. The Appellate Tribunal disregarded these sale transactions and included the lands covered by them in the holding of the petitioner on the ground that the transactions were hit by Section 12 of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1961 which Act was repealed by the present Act under Section 30.