Police must protect revenue officials conducting surveys when the Revenue Department requests protection.

The petitioner claimed ownership of 0.53 acres in Survey No. 42/9B, Thallihalli 2 Village, and sought a survey of the property.

After her application was not considered, the High Court in an earlier writ petition directed that the property be surveyed.

When the survey commenced, the fifth respondent objected.

The Tahsildar subsequently proposed to conduct the survey on 15 October 2026, prompting the petitioner to seek police protection for it

Whether police protection should be directed to enable the Revenue Department to carry out the court-ordered survey despite opposition from private respondents

Whether such protection should be limited to facilitating the survey, without enabling dispossession or resolving any private property dispute

The Court stated that a person may seek a survey of their property and that the Tahsildar has a duty to act on such a request.

Obstructing a statutory authority in the discharge of official duties may attract penal provisions, though the Court did not identify a specific statute or provision.

The police have a corresponding duty to enable the Revenue Department to perform its functions without hindrance.

Police protection for the survey is to be provided at the request of the Revenue Department, not at the request of either private party

The earlier order had directed a survey, and the Tahsildar had fixed a date to conduct it.

Given the private respondent’s opposition and the Revenue Department’s duty to carry out the survey, the Court considered police assistance appropriate to prevent obstruction.

It confined that assistance to facilitating the Revenue Department’s work and clarified that a survey could not be used to dispossess anyone.

Any remaining dispute between the parties was left to the civil court.

Protection may be requested only by the Revenue Department.

No person may be dispossessed under the guise of a survey; the petitioner may seek relief from the jurisdictional civil court for any unresolved grievance against the private respondents