KOLLURI ANJAIAH Vs. STATE OF TELANGANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are small farmers owning small extents of agricultural dry lands at Garmilla Sivar Village, Mancherial Mandal of Mancherial District. The lands owned by them are as under: The plea of the Petitioners

(2.) Petitioners contend that agriculture is the only source of their livelihood; that there is a cart track public road 10 feet width and 1350 feet length existing in Sy. Nos.707 and 708, which the revenue authorities claimed to be a Government land; that this cart track is existing for more than 20 years and all the farmers who are owning agricultural lands to an extent of 150 acres of land in Sy. Nos.716, 717, 719, 721 and 722 are using the cart track in Sy. Nos.707 and 708. The petitioners contend that this cart track is the only road/path way available to reach their lands as well as those lands of other farmers in the above survey numbers and that the cart track begins in Sy. Nos.707 and 708 and passes through private patta lands in Sy. Nos.716, 717, 719, 721 and 722 of Garmilla village to reach the old Mancherial Road.

(3.) According to them, a news item had published on 22.07.2016 in Namasthe Telangana newspaper, local edition under the caption "a way was formed in Sy. Nos.707 and 708 pertains to Bhoodan lands"; and on the basis of the said news item, the Tahsildar Mancherial (5th respondent) closed the cart track by putting barbed wire fence across the cart track road on 25.07.2016 allegedly on the oral instructions of the then District Collector, Adilabad and then the Joint Collector, Adilabad.