Stranger Can't Seek Survey, Demarcation Of Land Owned By Private Persons: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has said that a stranger to a private land cannot seek its survey or demarcation, and that survey applications can only made be made by persons who own the private land.The Court was called upon to determine whether a survey of a private land, at the request of a private individual, could be conducted under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Survey and Boundaries Act, 1923. Referring to Board Standing Order, Rule 20 of which allows for applications from private parties to be submitted to point out the boundaries of their fields in accordance with the survey records, a division bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao and Justice BVLN Chakravarthi held,“While Rule 20 of B.S.O. 34-A provides for applications to be made for conduct of survey of private lands, the language of the Rule, extracted above, would indicate that such applications can only be made by persons in relation to land owned by them. On this basis, these provisions cannot be stretched to mean that a survey could be conducted where the applicant is not able to demonstrate a clear claim over the said land. It is clear that no stranger can seek survey of private lands or for demarcation of the fields.”Facts:The High Court was dealing with a Writ Appeal challenging an order of the Single Judge dated 12.09.2024, directing the survey of the appellant's land at the request of another person–one Lingamaneni Rasmi (Respondent 6) to ascertain the boundaries of the land.The appellant claimed ownership and possession of lands measuring Ac.11.80 cents in Sy.No.132/1 of Kona Village, Machilipatnam Mandal, Krishna District, purchased through sale deeds dated 04.07.2007 and 18.01.2008. Through a writ petition, he challenged a notice dated 09.09.2024, issued by the Deputy Inspector of Survey, for conducting a survey at the request of Rasmi who claimed that Ac.2.00 of her land was illegally occupied by the appellant and sought its return following a due survey.The Single Judge had dismissed the appellant's writ petition noting that in light of Rasmi claiming title though a sale deed, only conducting a survey could resolve the issue. Aggrieved by this the appellant appealed before the Division Bench. By an order dated 30.09.2024, the survey was stayed by the Court.Court's Findings:At the outset, the Court noted that there were no provisions or guidelines set out by the Revenue Department mandating a survey to be conducted. However, the Court referred to BSO No. 34-A, Rule 20 of which calls for applications from private parties to demarcate boundaries of their fields according to survey records. The Rule further enacts that whenever such an application is made, it would be the responsibility of the surveyor to carry out such a survey and to point out the boundaries of the private person land. Commenting on the application of the provisions of the BSO, the Division Bench observed,“These provisions, of the B.S.O., indicate that, whenever there is a transfer of ownership, by any of the methods described above, the entries in the register of holdings are to be altered accordingly. Before such alterations, the land in question would have to be demarcated, on the ground, by way of a sub division of the survey number, so as to indicate the extent of land which is now with the transferee. This is done by identifying and specifying the fields, which would comprise the demarcated area. In view of such sub division, survey of such lands, by identification of the field lines, more colloquially known as F-lines, is permissible. Rule 20 of B.S.O. 34-A provides for seeking such a survey, by way of an application. Any survey conducted by the surveyor, on the basis of such an application, would be restricted to point out the F-Line of the fields which is already in the survey records or the changes of the sub divisions which are already in the records.”In the context of the present case, the Court observed that Rasmi could make a request for conduct of survey only for the purpose of pointing out the boundaries (subdivisions of the field lines) of her land, in accordance with the survey records.However, with respect to the question of handing over possession of the land, the Court noted that Revenue Authorities cannot interfere in civil disputes to hand over possession of lands. Disposing of the Writ Appeal, the bench directed the parties to approach the appropriate Civil Court for obtaining possession.Case Title: Manthena Praveen Kumar v. The State Of Andhra Pradesh and OthersClick Here To Read/Download Order

Stranger Can't Seek Survey, Demarcation Of Land Owned By Private Persons: Andhra Pradesh High Court

Saahas Arora

Tags