AP High Court: District Collector can’t challenge govt order

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has dismissed pleas by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and the District Collector challenging a government order that granted ryotwari patta rights to private individuals. Justice Sumathi Jagadam held that a District Collector, being an officer delegated statutory powers by the government, cannot file a writ petition against the government's own revisional order, as such an action is 'impermissible in law' and violates the 'doctrine of finality'.

The court noted that the delegation of power means the Collector acts as an agent on behalf of the government, not as an aggrieved party. While dismissing the Collector's petition as not maintainable, the court examined the merits of the GVMC's challenge. It rejected arguments that the claimants' application was barred by limitation, noting that a 2003 High Court direction to consider representations on merits had settled that issue. The court also found that the disputed land was not 'Water Works Poramboke' and that revenue records from 1929 onwards showed the claimants' forefathers were ryots in continuous possession before the 1945 cut-off date.