THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No. 9887 of 2011 Dated: 13-4-2011 Between: k.Prabhakar Reddy …Petitioner and Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by its Secretary, Revenue Dept., Hyderabad and others. …Respondents ORAL ORDER: This writ petition has been instituted by an Ex-Serviceman, aggrieved by the orders passed by the Joint Collector, Sri Potti Sreeramulu Nellore District on 20-1-2011 cancelling assignment of land made earlier in favour of the writ petitioner over an extent of of Ac.4-71 cents situated in Sy.No.520/12 and 520/13 of Korutur village, Indukuripet Mandal, Sri Potti Sreeramulu Nellore District. The Joint Collector has also ordered that another parcel of land be identified for assigning it to the writ petitioner herein. The Joint Collector issued a notice on 20-11-2010 proposing the cancellation of the assignment made in favour of the writ petitioner. As a matter of fact, the Joint Collector found that the land of Ac.0-71 cents situated in Sy.No.520/12 and land of an extent of Ac.4- 00 cents situated in Sy.No.520/13 of Korutur village which was assigned to the petitioner herein on 4-9-2003 was, occupied by a neighbouring Sea Food processing unit by name M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. The Joint Collector has also found that the land in question is salty and is not fit for cultivation. M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. has submitted a representation as long back as on 6-7-1994 before the Joint Collector seeking alienation of land comprising of Ac.4-71 cents situated in Sy.Nos. 520/12 and 520/13 to enable them to utilize the said land for laying pipe lines for drawing seawater for their prawn culture. The Joint Collector found fault with the revenue establishment for having not properly verify the ground realities before assigning this particular land in favour of the writ petitioner. M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. appears to have encroached upon this land and laid a pipe line in anticipation of favourable orders by the Joint Collector for alienation of this land in their favour, no doubt for market value. Therefore without evicting the encroacher from out of this land, the said land could not have been assigned to the writ petitioner, otherwise it would create hustle for the petitioner to utilize the same without any threat or intervention from M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. Therefore the conclusion drawn by the Joint Collector that the assignment granted to the petitioner on 4-9-2003 deserves to be cancelled perhaps is otherwise justifiable. But however since the petitioner is an eligible person for possessing the assigned land, the Joint Collector ought to have directed the Tahasildar, Indukuripet to identify at least three different alternative sites anywhere in the entire Mandal of Indukuripet, which are fit for cultivation, so that the same can be assigned to the petitioner. Therefore, the order passed on 20-1-2011 by the Joint Collector is modified by directing the Tahasildar, Indukuripet to identify the land of similar extent in any other three villages in the entire Mandal of Indukuripet which lands are fit for cultivation, within a period of three months and place those details before the Joint Collector, Nellore before the end of July, 2011. Thereafter the Joint Collector may require the petitioner to choose any such one land and upon the writ petitioner exercising his willingness and option in that regard, direct the Tahasildar, Indukuripet to assign the said land in favour of the writ petitioner within a further period of two months thereafter. Further one more aspect found in the impugned order deserves to be addressed by me. The Joint Collector has found that the land of an extent of Ac.4- 71 cents has been occupied quite unauthorisedly by M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. It appears that this land was occupied by the said company from the year 1990 itself, therefore, the Joint Collector ought to have ordered for some compensation to be collected from M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. also for the unauthorized occupation of these lands and collect the same. Let this mount be determined appropriately by putting M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. on notice that if M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. has not generated considerable amount of employment, the Joint Collector may reconsider his decision to alienate this land in favour of the said company for the market value. If on the other hand M/s Sarath Sea Foods Pvt. Ltd. has generated considerable amount of employment, in larger public interest by determining the present market value, the said land may be assigned in favour of the said company. This exercise be carried out independent of recovering compensation for the unauthorized use and occupation of the Government land by the said company. To this extent also the impugned order stands modified. Let a copy of this order be communicated to the District Collector as well as the Joint Collector Sri Potti Sreeramulu Nellore District. The writ petition stands disposed of, after hearing the learned Government Pleader for Assignment. ------------------------------------- NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO, J 13th April, 2011 Note: Issue copy in one week. /B.O/ GRR