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Revenue Divisional Officer, Chevella Division v. Mohd. Syeed Ather

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 5Decided 2 Jan 2025
C.A. No.-001919-001922 - 2016
Justice C.T. Ravikumar · Justice Sanjay Karol

Background

This bunch of appeals from the State of Andhra Pradesh concerned land originally assigned by the Government to certain persons under a revised assignment policy, which was later sold to private purchasers through registered sale deeds. Revenue authorities found the purchasers had violated the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfer) Act, 1977, which bars the transfer of such government-assigned land, and ordered the land resumed by the Government. The purchasers challenged this in writ petitions, arguing the land had been assigned on payment of market value (making the transfer restriction inapplicable) and that a Tehsildar's permission had validated the sales; the High Court agreed and quashed the resumption orders, prompting the State's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that the High Court's entire ruling rested on a factual "misconception": that the State had never disputed the land was assigned free of market value, when in fact the State's counter-affidavit clearly stated the assignment was made under the free, no-cost revised policy of 1958, which itself contained a non-alienability condition. Relying on its own recent precedent (Gudepu Sailoo and Yadaiah), the Court held the High Court failed to properly consider the actual terms of assignment and the settled legal position that assigned land carrying a non-alienability condition cannot be freely transferred. The common judgment was set aside, and all the connected writ petitions were sent back to the Andhra Pradesh High Court for fresh consideration in light of these precedents, to be completed within six months.

Lesson Learnt

Land granted by the government under an assignment scheme "free of market value" typically comes with a condition restricting its resale, and buyers who purchase such land, even through registered sale deeds and with local revenue officials' permission, can still have the transfer struck down and the land taken back by the State.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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