IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No : 5008 of 2008 Between: 1 M. Vijaya Kumari, W/o. Sri A. Ananda Raju, R/o. D.No. 45-54-2, Habid Nagar, Akkeypalem, Visakhapatnam. 2 M. Venkata Bala Tripura Sundari, W/o. M. Srinivasa Raju, R/o. 5-4-2, Kothapet, Tuni, East Godavari District. 3 M. Sudha Rani, W/o. M. Bhaskara Raju, R/o. 102, Kamal Arcade, Shanthi Puram, Visakhapatnam. 4 P. Madhavi Latha, W/o. P. Subrahmanya Raju, R/o. B-98, Flat No. 102, Raghavendra Homes, Vegalrao Nagar, Hyderabad. 5 Nut Star Foods Private Limited, A Company registered under the Companies Act Having its Regd. Office at 49-51-8, Santhipuram, Visakhapatnam, Rep. by its Managing Director, M. Vijaya KUmari, W/o. Ananda Raju, Aged 36 Years, R/o. Visakhapatnam. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority, Rep. by its Vice Chairman, Visakhapatnam. 2 The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, Rep. by its Commissioner, 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 will be pleased to grant an order, direction or writ, more so in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the respondents in interfering with the possession and enjoyment of the Petitioner's property in S. No. 159/7 (old Sy.No. 114) situated in Kommadi Village, Visakhapatnam and the action of the respondents in trying to demolish the properties of the petitioners for the purpose of road widening without issuance of any notice to the petitioners is illegal arbitrary and violative of principles of natural justice apart from violative of Articles 14 and 19(1) (g) of the Constitution of India and violative of provisions of Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Act and consequently direct the respondents not to interfere with the peaceful possession of the petitioners property unless due process of law. Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri G. Kalyan Chakravarthy Counsel for Respondent No.1 : Mrs. V. Preeti Reddy Counsel for respondent No.2 : Sri N. Ranga Reddy The Court made the following : O R D E R: In [aphc1]this case, the grievance of the petitioners is that the respondent-Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has been seeking to acquire [aphc2]land for the purpose of widening the road existing, without invoking the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and that the respondent-Corporation has been offering meager amounts as compensation for the land sought to be taken possession of by them. It is further asserted that the value offered by the Corporation is, in fact, less than the value prevailing for the land as also the value fixed by the revenue establishment of the State Government and, hence, the petitioners are not interested in agreeing to receive the compensation offered by the respondent-Corporation and deliver possession of the land. It is needless to observe that the Municipal Corporation cannot take possession of the property owned by the citizens without recourse to law. The respondents are, therefore, directed to follow the procedure laid down in the Land Acquisition Act and acquire the land in question and without adopting such a procedure, it should not insist upon the petitioners to part with the possession of the land. With this, the writ petition stands disposed of, but however, without costs. (NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO, J) 11th March 2008 ksld ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SPJS} [aphc1] [aphc2]