IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE ELEVENTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NOOTY RAMAMOHANA RAO WRIT PETITION No : 7905 of 2008 Between: Mohd. Mahmood Ali Qureshi, S/o. Late Mohd. Osman Ali, R/o. H.No. 19-4-415, Bahadurpura, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Rep by its Commissioner, having its Office at Tankbund, Hyderabad. 2 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Rep by the Asst. City Planner, Circle No. II, Sardar Mahal, Charminar, Hyderabad. 3 Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by Secretary, Municipal Administration Department, having its office at Secretariat, Hyderabad. .....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 issue a writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not initiating the Land Acquisition proceedings before dispossessing the petitioner from his premises No. 19-4-415, situated at Bahadurpura X Road, Hyderabad, as illegal, void in contravention of sections 146 and 147 of HMC Act, and consequently direct the respondents not to dispossess the petitioner from the premises without initiating the Land Acquisition proceedings. Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri Mohd. Zia-ul-Haq Counsel for Respondent Nos.1 and 2: Smt. Kalpana Ekbote Counsel for Respondent No.3 : GP for Municipal Administration & Urban Development The Court made the following O R D E R: The grievance of the petitioner is that the 1st respondent – Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, without following the procedure available either under Sections 146 and 147 of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporations Act, 1955 (for short, ‘the 1955 Act’) or the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, ‘the 1894 Act’), has been pressurizing him to part with an extent of 279.46 square yards out of a total extent of 316 square yards belonging to him, for the purpose of making improvements to Bahadurpura junction. The petitioner asserts that he is not interested in accepting the meager compensation sought to be paid by the 1st respondent- Corporation. He is also not interested in accepting the other terms offered by the Municipal Corporation; namely according permission for construction of structures without restriction of the floor space index, inasmuch as the left over site in his hands would hardly be 36 square yards and, consequently, it would serve no purpose for him. When once the owner of a property does not give his consent for acquisition of his immovable property by the 1st respondent- Corporation, the Corporation cannot proceed any further without taking recourse to the procedure available under Section 146 read with 147 of the 1955 Act or without invoking the power available under Section 4(1) read with 6 of the 1894 Act. Smt. Kalpana Ekbote, learned Standing Counsel for the Municipal Corporation, on instructions, informs the Court that wherever the land owner is not giving his consent for acquisition of the immovable property, invariably the Corporation is following the due process of law and is not making any attempt to dispossess the land owner without taking recourse to either the provisions contained in the 1955 Act or under the 1894 Act. In view of this statement made by the learned Standing Counsel for the Municipal Corporation, the apprehensions entertained by the writ petitioner are put at rest. The respondents shall not dispossess the writ petitioner of his property for the purpose of affecting improvements to Bahadurpura junction without acquiring the right, title and interest over the land belonging to him, in accordance with law. With this, the writ petition stands disposed of, but however, without costs. ---------------------------------- Nooty Ramamohana Rao, J 11th April 2008 ksld ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{RLD}