IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 6844 of 2008 Between: 1 N. Maheswar Reddy, S/o. late Subba Reddy, R/o. 1-170, Putlampalli Village, Kadapa District. 2 Adanki Nagendra Prasad, S/o. Obulesh, R/o. 4/352/3, Nagaraju pet, Kadapa District. 3 P. Kanthamma, W/o. Mallikarjuna Reddy, R/o. 2/404, Nagaraju pet, Kadapa District. 4 Perla Chandr Sekhar Reddy, W/o. Mallikarjuna Reddy, R/o. 2/404, Nagaraju pet, Kadapa District. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by the District Collector, Kadapa. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Kadapa. 3 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Kadapa. 4 Shilparamam Arts, Crafts and Cultural Society, (A Govt. of A.P. Society), Madapur, Hyderabad Rep by its Special Officer 5 The Managing Director, KCP Projects Ltd. 2-1-2-339-1, Domalguda, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue a writ order or direction particularly Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to evolve a suitable package by way of compensation for the deprivation of the petitioners of their lands to an extent of Ac. 4- 82 cents in Sy.No. 138/1, Ac. 4-69 cents in Sy.No. 161/1, Ac. 4-54 cents in Sy.No. 158, and Ac. 4-54 cents in Sy.No. 159 respectively in Pulampalli Village, Kadapa Mandal by declaring the high handed acton of taking possession of the lands of the petitioners with out paying any compensation as arbitrary and illegal and oﬀends the fundamental rights guaranteed under constitution of India and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.N.NARASIMHA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 6844 of 2008 ORDER: The petitioners claim to be the owners of the land in Survey Nos.138/1, 158, 159 and 161 of Putlampalli Village, Kadapa District. Their grievance is that the respondents herein are trying to dispossess them from their lands and making attempts to bring about constructions. It is stated that the petitioners were granted pattas way back in the year 1984 and they are still in force. The writ petition was listed for admission on 31.03.2008. This Court granted time to the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, to obtain instructions. It is represented by the learned Government Pleader that the petitioners or their predecessors were, no doubt, granted pattas, in respect of the lands, referred to above and the same were cancelled, vide proceedings, dated 15.11.2004, after following the prescribed procedure. It is stated that the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer sought to serve notices of resumption on the petitioners and several others in the locality, but since none of the assignees were available, substituted service was eﬀected and lands were resumed, vide proceedings, dated 15.11.2004. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. The assertion of the petitioners that they are the assignees of the land is admitted, with a slight change as to name of the original assignee. The petitioners are under the impression that the assignments in their favour are still in force. On behalf of the respondents, it is, however, represented that the assignments were cancelled and the lands were resumed, vide proceedings, dated 15.11.2004. It is stated that none of the petitioners were served with notices, since they were not available. This Court would have dealt with the issue relating to the validity of the orders of cancellation, but for the fact that they are not the subject matter of this writ petition. The fact, however, remains that the petitioners were not aware of the orders of resumption, much less, they were served with the copies thereof. The unilateral proceedings initiated by the revenue authorities cannot take away the rights of the petitioners. It is just unimaginable that the petitioners, who are the residents of the village, are not available to be served with the show cause notice or the order of resumption. This Court takes serious exception to the method adopted by the revenue authorities in canceling the pattas of about 80 persons. The petitioners need to be given an opportunity to work out their remedies vis-à-vis the orders of resumption. Therefore, the writ petition is disposed of, directing that the respondents shall take steps to serve the copies of orders of resumption, dated 15.01.2004, said to have been passed against the petitioners, within two (2) weeks from today; and it shall be open to the petitioners to work out their remedies, by treating that the cause of action for them had arisen only on the date of service of such orders. The respondents are directed not to interfere with the possession of the lands for a period of eight (8) weeks. The nature of steps to be taken thereafter shall depend upon the manner in which the petitioners work out their remedies. It is made clear that the respondents shall not assert their possession vis-à-vis the petitioners, not withstanding the nature of activities; and any deviation, in this regard, shall be taken serious note of. There shall be no order as to costs. ________ 23.09.2008 JSU ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{RLD} THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 6844 of 2008 Date: 23.09.2008 JSU