Rayavarapu Adnarayana vs State of A.P., Land Reforms Collectorate, Kakinada

The short question which arises for consideration in this revision is whether the land reforms Tribunal was justified in refusing to accept the extent of 5 acres in Sy.No.28/1 and 3 acres in Sy.No.5 of Chakirevulapalem Village, which are proposed to be surrendered by the declarant on the sole ground that the said lands are covered by ''Pits and Hillocks'' and unfit for cultivation.

Admittedly, the said lands were treated as agricultural lands and classified as dry lands under H category and they were computed in the holding of the declarant for arriving at the surplus land held by him. Subsection 5 of Section 10 of the A.P. Land Reforms (Ceiling and Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 provides inter alia that it shall be open to the Tribunal to refuse to accept the surrender of any land which has been converted into non-agricultural land and has been rendered incapable of being used for the purpose of agriculture.

It is not the case of the authorised Officer that the declarant has converted the said lands into non-agricultural lands and rendered them incapable of being used for the purpose of agriculture. When once the lands were treated as agricultural lands and computed in the holding of the declarant, the authority cannot refuse to accept the surrender of such lands merely on the ground that the same are covered by pits. I am therefore satisfied that the appellate Tribunal committed error in remanding the matter to the primary Tribunal instead of straightaway allowing the appeal filed by the declarant. The CRP is accordingly allowed the order of the appellate Tribunal is set aside and the primary Tribunal is directed to accept the surrender of the said lands proposed by the petitioner.