REPORTABLE     IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO.6136 OF 2009          (Arising from S.L.P.(C) No.19152 of 2007)

Allwyn Housing Colony Welfare Association ..Appellant

versus

Government of Andhra Pradesh & Others ..Respondents

O R D E R

Leave granted.

This  Appeal  has  been  filed  against  the  impugned  

judgment of the Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High  

Court dated 14.09.2007 passed in Writ Appeal No.740 of 2007.

The case pertains to allotment/alienation of 3 acres  

and 18 guntas of land comprised in Survey No.336,Balanagar  

Mandal, Kukatpally, Ranga Reddy District to Hyderabad Allwyn  

Employees  Co-operative Housing  committee, respondent  No.5  

herein, on 4.6.2005.  Admittedly, respondent No.5 thereafter  

allotted  and  handed  over  plots  in  the  said  property  to  

various persons who claimed to be members of the respondent  

No.5 society (although the appellant contended that they  

were not members).

Appellant herein filed a writ petition in the High  

Court  of  Andhra  Pradesh  at  Hyderbad  challenging  the  

alienation/allotment  of  the  aforesaid  land  to  respondent  

No.5 herein which was dismissed by the learned Single Judge

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on 21st August, 2007, inter alia, on the ground that the  

persons to whom the respondent No.5 allotted plots were not  

impleaded.

Aggrieved against the order of the learned Single  

Judge, the appellant filed a Writ Appeal before the Division  

Bench of the High Court.  The Division Bench of the High  

Court,  by  the  impugned  order,  declined  to  entertain  the  

appellant's challenge to the alienation made in favour of  

respondent No.5 on two grounds:

“(1) the  appellant  did  not  offer  any  explanation  for  the  delay  of  almost  two  years between the date of alienation made in  favour of respondent No.5 i.e. 4.6.2005 and  filing  of  the  writ  petition  i.e.  April,  2007, and  

(2) the persons to whom plots have been  allotted by respondent No.5 and who are in  possession of the individual plots have not  been  impleaded  as  parties  to  the  writ  petition  and  without  hearing  them,  the  allotment  in  question  cannot  be  annulled.  In  our  opinion,  non-impleadment  of  the  beneficiaries of allotment was fatal to the  writ petition filed by the appellant.”  

Many  of  the  persons  in  whose  favour  plots  were  

allotted/alienated by respondent No.5 have filed impleadment  

applications before us.  The applications for impleadment  

are allowed and they have also been heard.  

In our opinion, natural justice required that the  

persons in whose favour respondent No.5 allotted plots in

the property and to whom possession had also been handed  

over should have been impleaded in the writ petition and  

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they should have been heard by the High Court.  We have  

recently held in  Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd.  

vs. Regional Director, ESI & Others reported in 2009 (11)  

SCALE 766 that no order adverse to a party should be passed  

without  hearing him.   In  the present  case, if  the writ  

petition was allowed the order will adversely affect the  

allottees.  Hence, in the interest of justice, we are of the  

opinion that the matter should be remanded to the Division  

Bench of the High Court for a fresh decision in accordance  

with law after hearing the persons in whose favour plots in  

the land have been allotted including the impleaded persons.  

Delay in filing the writ petition is condoned.   

Accordingly, we accept this appeal, set aside the  

impugned order of the Division Bench and restore the Writ  

Appeal No.740 of 2007 on the roster of the High Court. The  

impleaded  parties  are  directed  to  file  their  counter  

affidavit within three weeks from today before the Division  

Bench of the High Court.  Rejoinder thereto, if any, may be  

filed within  the next two weeks.   

Though,  we  have  allowed  the  applications  for  

impleadment but if any affected party is still there and he  

wants to implead himself in this matter, he is at liberty to

file  an  application  for  impleadment  before  the  Division  

Bench of the High Court.  The matter shall be listed for  

final disposal before the Division Bench immediately after  

the expiry of the aforesaid period.  

We make it clear that we are not expressing any  

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opinion on the merits of the dispute.  All contentions are  

left open to the parties.  

While issuing notice on 21st April, 2008, this Court  

directed the parties to maintain status quo.  This order of  

status quo shall remain in force till the case is decided by  

the High Court.   

The Appeal is allowed accordingly.  No costs.

............................J. [MARKANDEY KATJU]

NEW DELHI; ............................J. SEPTEMBER 08, 2009. [ASOK KUMAR GANGULY]