IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD MONDAY, THE SIXTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI AND THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 1580 of 2002 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 3.10.2001 in WP NO : 17630 OF 2001 on the file of the High Court.) Between: 1 The State of A.P., Rep by its Principal Secretary I & CAD Department Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer (LAO), Gadwal, Mahabubnagar District. 3 The District Collector, D.R.D.A. Mahaboobnagar District. 4 The Executive Engineer, I.B.Division, I & CAD Department, Wanaparthy - 509103 5 The Chief Engineer I.D. (I.B.) Erramanzil, Hyderabad ..... APPELLANTS AND 1 Govindu S/o Ranganna R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 2 Ranga Reddy S/o Paguntanna R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 3 Govindappa S/o Thimmappa R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 4 Nagi Reddy S/o Papi Reddy R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 5 Hanmi Reddy S/o Pedda Ramappa R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 6 Narasimhulu S/o Dubba Ramana R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 7 Kumari Nangilappa S/o Ramanna R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 8 Ranganna S/o Masappa R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 9 Hampaiah S/o Swamy R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District 10 Harijan Masanna S/o Ashanna R/o Guvvaldinne Village, Gattu Mandal, Mahabubnagar District .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellant:GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.G.BUTCHIAH GOUD The Court made the following : ORAL JUDGMENT: (per the Hon’ble Sri Justice Sanjay Kumar) The order dated 3.10.2001 passed in Writ Petition No. 17630 of 2001 is under challenge in this Writ Appeal. By the said order the learned Judge directed the respondents in the writ petition to complete the land acquisition proceedings in respect of the writ petitioners’ lands within a period of six months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. The issue before the learned Judge was with regard to the writ petitioners’ lands in Sy. Nos. 96 and 102 of Guvvaladinne village, Gattu mandal, Mahboobnagar District which were said to have been submerged owing to the lift irrigation scheme undertaken by the State of Andhra Pradesh to feed Yerramdoddi Tank of Guvvaladinne village. The learned Judge took note of the averments made by the respondents in their counter affidavits that after receipt of the funds from the Government, land acquisition proceedings would be initiated and concluded. The learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition appearing for the State contended that there was no recital in the counter affidavit filed by the respondents in the writ petition to the effect that petitioners’ lands had been taken possession of and that the same were submerged owing to the lift irrigation scheme. We perused the counter affidavits filed by respondents 2 and 4 individually and found that no specific averment had been made denying the contention of the petitioners that their lands were submerged. Therefore, the learned Government Pleader was directed to obtain necessary instructions in this regard. Thereupon, the learned Government Pleader produced a letter addressed by one Mr. M.Javid Alam, Deputy Executive Engineer, I & CAD, I.B. Sub-Division, Gadwal, Dated 2.7.2009, wherein the Deputy Executive Engineer, specifically stated that possession of the petitioners’ lands was still with them and that the same had not been submerged as the full tank level of Yerramdoddi Tank has not been raised. In view of the above statement which is not denied by the learned counsel for the respondents, we are satisfied that the order passed by the learned Judge directing the State Authorities to complete the land acquisition proceedings in respect of the petitioners’ lands cannot be sustained as the petitioners continue to be in possession of their lands free from submergence. However, we clarify that in the event of the petitioners’ lands being submerged owing to the raising of the full tank level of the said tank, they are at liberty to avail such remedies as are available to them in law for seeking compensation therefor. With the above directions, the Writ Appeal is disposed of. No order as to costs. ____________________ Justice T.Meena Kumari __________________ Justice Sanjay Kumar July 6, 2009 MAS.