IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO: 270 of 2008 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 23/01/2008 in WP No. 18584 of 2007 on the file of the High Court.) Between: Smt.Sabbela Rajamma W/o.Raji Reddy R/o.Pyna village, Pedapudi Mandal East Godavari District ... APPELLANT AND 1) The Government of Andhra Pradesh,rep.by its Principal Secretary Revenue (Land Acquisition ), Secretariat, Hyderabad 2) The District Collector, East Godavari District, Kakinada 3) The Joint collector, East Godavari District Kakinada 4) The Land Acquisition Officer of Revenue Division Officer Kakinada, East Godavari District ...RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellant: MR.T.D.PANI KUMAR Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following: Oral Judgment: (Per Shri Anil R. Dave, Chief Justice) 1. The appellant, the original petitioner, has been aggrieved by the proceedings whereby her Ac.2.30 cts. of land bearing Survey No.5/2A and 6/4 situated at Pyna Village, Peddapudi Mandal, East Godavari District is to be acquired by the government. 2. The appellant filed the writ petition praying that the subject proceedings be quashed. After hearing the learned advocates, the learned Single Judge rejected the same by an order dated 23.1.2008. Being aggrieved by the said order, this appeal has been filed by the appellant. 3. Learned advocate appearing for the appellant has submitted that the enquiry under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, ‘the Act’) had not been properly conducted and, therefore, the proceedings under the Act have been vitiated. He has referred to the earlier proceedings in the matter which had also been challenged in the past in a writ petition, which had been allowed and the matter was remanded for re-consideration so that the enquiry under Section 5-A can be conducted again. Accordingly, fresh enquiry was conducted, but the authority came to the same conclusion and decided to acquire the land in question. Learned advocate has relied on the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Hindustan Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. v. Darius Shapur Chenai and others[1] so as to substantiate his case. 4. On the other hand, the learned Government Pleader has submitted that the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge is just and proper as the enquiry had been properly conducted. 5. We have heard the learned advocates and have noted the fact that the enquiry was properly conducted and after going through the proceedings, the Collector had come to the conclusion that there was no other suitable government land – endowment land or surplus land in the village and, therefore, it had become necessary to acquire the land belonging to the appellant. 6. We have also gone through the remarks made against the objection filed by the appellant – petitioner. We do find that the reasons stated for acquisition of the land in question is just and proper because the land is acquired for a public purpose, namely, housing for poor people and as no other suitable land was available in the vicinity, it was decided to acquire the land which is subject matter of this proceeding. 7. So far as the judgment referred to by the learned advocate appearing for the petitioner is concerned, it cannot be disputed that the enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act is a must. As stated hereinabove, the enquiry had been duly made and the Collector, after considering the objection and looking to the facts of the case, came to the conclusion that the land in question was required for a public purpose. 8. For the afore-stated reasons, we do not find any reason to interfere with the order passed by the learned Single Judge whereby he has rejected the petition so that the acquisition proceedings can go on. 9. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. ANIL R. DAVE, CJ April 23, 2008 R. SUBHASH REDDY, J svs [1] 2005 (6) ALD 53 (SC)