The Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the officials of the concerned Department to undertake and complete the exercise of identification of unauthorized occupations/encroachments over the subject land and any other lands belonging to their Department, within a period of two months and thereafter, take steps for removal of such encroachments by following the relevant rules and the principles of natural justice, issuing notice and providing opportunity of hearing to the unauthorized occupants/ encroachers, within a further period of four months.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice D.V.S.S. Somayajulu allowed the PIL filed alleging illegal construction in the Government Elementary School at Pallapulanka, Addankivarilanka Gram Panchayat, Kapileswarapuram Mandal, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema District.
The issue of encroachment of government lands/public utility lands vested in the State, which are meant for common benefit of individuals, was considered in detail by the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh v. State of Punjab reported in (2011) 11 SCC 396, while dealing with a case of encroachment of village pond.
In the said judgment, the Supreme Court, having noted its earlier decisions in M.I. Builders (P) Ltd. v. Radhey Shyam Sahu reported in 1999 (6) SCC 464; Friends Colony Development Committee v. State of Orissa reported in 2004 (8) SCC 733 and Hinch Lal Tiwari v. Kamala Devi reported in AIR 2001 SC 3215 (followed by the Madras High Court in L. Krishnan v. State of Tamil Nadu [2005 (4) CTC 1 Madras]), issued the following directions :-
“22. Before parting with this case, we give directions to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/ Shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. For this purpose, the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession. Regularization should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g. where lease has been granted under some Government notification to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land.”
Despite the directions of the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh (supra) as noted above, no steps are being taken by the Government and its authorities in protecting the government lands. As the public authorities are failing in their duties in protecting the government lands, which are meant for the common use of the general public, despite bringing to their notice, public spirited persons are approaching the High Court to intervene and direct the public authorities to protect the government lands from encroachments , the Court observed.