IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.1436 of 2001 Between: S.Achubabu S/o.Late Pentaiah, R/o.D.No.9-128, Drivers Colony, Old Gajuvaka, Visakhapatnam. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The District Collector, Visakhapatnam. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Visakhapatnam. 3 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Gajuvaka Mandal, Visakhapatnam. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents/authorities herein in trying to unauthorisedly occupying the petitioner's land in Sy.No.77-9, situated at Chinnagantyada village, Gajuvaka Mandal, Visakhapatnam district for the purpose of allotment of house-sites to the Weaker Sections without paying the land value or without initiating land acquisition proceedings by depriving the livelihood by the respondents herein as illegal, arbitrary and in violation of Article 14, 21, 31-A and 300-A of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents herein to pay the damages to the petitioner herein. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.K.RAMANACHARY Counsel for the Respondentas: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.1436 OF 2001 O R D E R The present writ petition is ﬁled challenging the action of the respondents herein in trying to occupy the petitioner’s land in Sy.No.77-9, Chinnagantywada Village, Gajuvaka Mandal, Visakhapatnam District, without following the due procedure laid down by law. The petitioner claims that the subject land admeasuring nearly Ac.2-00 cents has been in possession of his family since the time of his forefathers. According to him, though the revenue records show his possession to be over Ac.0.19 cents only, his actual possession extends over an extent of nearly Ac.2-00 in Sy.No.77-9 of Chinnagantywada Village. His complaint is that the respondent authorities wanted land for allotment of house sites in favour of the weaker sections of the village and have chosen the land in the possession of the petitioner in this regard. His grievance is that the respondent authorities have not taken recourse to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, ‘the Act’) to take over his land and are resorting to extra legal methods to occupy his land. Accordingly, he ﬁled the present writ petition. No counter-affidavit is filed. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. The petitioner himself admits that the revenue records show his possession to be only in respect of an extent of Ac.0.19 cents though he claims that his actual physical possession extends over Ac.2-00 of land in Sy.No.77-9 of Chinnagantywada Village, Gajuvaka Mandal, Visakhapatnam District. This Court, in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, cannot undertake an enquiry as to the exact extent of land which is in the possession of the petitioner or whether he is the lawful owner and possessor thereof. Be that as it may, once the petitioner is in a position to assert and substantiate his possession over an extent of land in Sy.No.77-9 of Chinnagantywada Village, the respondent authorities are required to follow the due procedure laid down by law in the event the said land is wanted for any public purpose. Without taking recourse to the due procedure laid down by law, the authorities cannot interfere with the possession of the petitioner or seek to dispossess him from whatever be the extent of land in his possession. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of with the above observation. There shall be no order as to costs. ----------------------------- P.V.SANJAY KUMAR,J 19th SEPTEMBER, 2008 PGS THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.1436 of 2001 19TH SEPTEMBER, 2008