THE HON’BLE MR JUSTICE L. NARASIMHA REDDY Writ Petition No.5718 of 2007 ORDER: The 1st petitioner is the owner of Ac.1.50 cents of land in Sy.No.565/1, and petitioners Nos.2 to 5 are owners, in respect of Ac.2.21 cents of land, in Sy.No.565/2 of Musunuru Village and Mandal, Krishna District. They have approached this Court complaining that the respondents are compelling them to give consent for acquisition of land for providing house sites to the poor. This writ petition was admitted on 23-03-2007, and interim direction was issued on that day. On the next day, notiﬁcation under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’) was published, and a notice under Section 5-A, was issued on 20-03-2007. The petitioners feel aggrieved by the various steps taken by the respondents. They contend that the agriculture, being undertaken in the said lands, is their source of livelihood, and the acquisition is mala fide. The respondents filed a counter-affidavit, stating inter alia that the petitioners gave their consent for acquisition of the lands, referred to above, and subsequently ﬁled this writ petition. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, and learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. There is a serious dispute, as to the alleged consent, said to have been given by the petitioners for acquisition of land. The very fact that the petitioners have approached this Court, even before the notiﬁcation under Section 4(1) of the Act, was issued, suggests that the plea of the respondents, that the petitioners gave consent, cannot be taken on its face value. Be that as it may, while a notiﬁcation under Section 4(1), dated 24-03-2007 was published, the Land Acquisition Oﬃcer, the 3rd respondent herein, issued notice dated 20-03-2007, proposing to conduct inquiry under Section 5-A of the Act. Obviously, because of the pendency of the writ petition, no further steps were taken. This Court is of the view, that the petitioners can put forward all their contentions, in the inquiry under Section 5-A, and further steps, including the publication of notification, under Section 6 of the Act, shall be taken only after the objections, that may be raised by the petitioners; are dealt with, through a written order. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of, directing that, it shall be open to the petitioners to raise their objections in the ongoing inquiry under Section 5-A, and the 2nd respondent shall pass detailed order, dealing with the objections raised by the petitioners, before the declaration under Section 6 of the Act is published. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________________ L. NARASIMHA REDDY, J. Dt.10-09-2008. KO