THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU W.P.No.26787 of 2008 ORDER: This writ petition is filed seeking a Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not disposing of the representation of the petitioner dated 24.11.2008 as arbitrary, illegal and violative of principles of natural justice and Articles 14, 19, 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondent Nos.1 and 2 to dispose of the said representation dated 24.11.2008 forthwith. It is the case of the petitioners that they are the owners and possessors of land to an extent of Ac.14-25 guntas in Sy.No.48 situated at Nanakramguda, Serilingampally mandal, Ranga Reddy district. The said land was a patta land and by virtue of partition by the competent Court of law, the same was divided among the family members of the petitioners in the year 1968 and the petitioners are beneficiaries of the said land. Thus, the petitioners are holding small extents of land in the said survey number and all are small and poor agriculturists. Land acquisition proceedings were initiated and a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’) was issued on 10.7.2002 for acquiring various extents of land in Survey No.49 from various owners in the same village i.e. Nanakramguda village, which are adjacent to each other and en-block admeasuring Ac.85-00 as per the said notification. One of the reasons mentioned for acquisition of the said land is for development of Township Project of Manikonda and development of Golf Course, Golf Club, Resort Hotel etc., and for construction of Hotel by Emaar MFG Land Ltd., F3, first floor, 137 ANR Centre, Road No.1, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. According to the petitioners, though acquisition proceedings are initiated, possession of the land is still with them and they have not taken any compensation amount with regard to the subject land. In the subject land of Ac.14-25 guntas, which was proposed to be acquired, Express Highway from Gachibowli to Outer Ring Road has been laid, which is cutting across the said Ac.14-25 guntas and dividing it into virtually two pieces. One portion of the said land is abutting various other survey numbers on the western side of the road, for which acquisition notification has been issued and the other portion is on the eastern side of the Express Highway, which is about Ac.9-00. According to the petitioners, they have not taken compensation with regard to the land lost for laying Express Highway i.e. Ac.4.00 and there is a balance land kept vacant to an extent of Ac.9-00, which is isolated and the petitioners are poor and small farmers and are dependant on the said land. Initially, the entire area was sought to be acquired for development of new projects by fifth respondent. Therefore, the total land proposed to be acquired under the said notification towards west of the said Express Highway is about Ac.75-00 and adjacent thereto about 450 Acres of Government land is available i.e. total 525 Acres en-block is available. According to the petitioners, the total area required for the entire project is about 535 Acres, out of which, 525 Acres of land is now available for completion of the said project, for which acquisition process has been initiated. The said 525 Acres of land is in one block on the western side of the Express Highway and the petitioners land of Ac.9-00 is on the eastern side of the Express Highway, which is completely separated and isolated and de-linked from the rest of the land proposed to be acquired. The purpose of the said notification for acquisition of land is almost achieved by the said Ac.75-00 of patta land and in addition thereto, Government land is available to an extent of Ac.450-00 adjacent to the said Ac.75-00. Petitioners made a representation to the respondents on 24.11.2008 stating that they are 27 in number and are hard pressed for finances to discharge their obligations towards children, and therefore, requested the authorities to de-notify the said small extent of Ac.9-00 of land which is separated, de- linked and isolated from the rest of the land in Sy.No.48 of Nanakramguda village, by the Express Highway on the eastern side corner in view of availability of total extent of Ac.525-00. As per clause (1) of Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act, a procedure has been contemplated that “except in the case provided for in Section 36, the Government shall be at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition any land of which possession has not been taken”. Thus, a provision to withdraw any land from acquisition has been created under the Statute. Further, one of the requisites for consideration for de-notification is that the persons interested in the land should not have received any part of the compensation towards acquisition of land. According to the petitioners, they have not received any compensation, therefore they are entitled for re-conveyance of land. Further, petitioners state that they are poor farmers and their main source of livelihood has been lost by virtue of the said acquisition and since the Express Highway has split the said subject land admeasuring Ac.14-25 guntas into two pieces, the land on the eastern side of the Express Highway may be de-notified from the said acquisition. The fifth respondent-APIIC Limited filed a detailed counter denying the allegations made by the petitioners and further stated that there are no merits in the writ petition and the same is liable to be dismissed. It is stated in the counter that the APIIC is a wholly owned undertaking of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It is a company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 having its registered office at No.5-9-58/B, 6th floor, Parishrama Bhavan, Fatehmaidan Road, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad with Zonal Office at various places, each one headed by a Zonal Manager. The main objects of the Corporation amongst others are acquisition and development of lands providing infrastructural facilities to Industrial Areas in the State of Andhra Pradesh, allotment of plots/sheds to entrepreneurs for industrial purposes. The Corporation aims at accelerated development of Industries in Andhra Pradesh to facilitate socio-economic progress of the State. The Corporation is vested with certain powers and functions of local bodies for exercising the same in the industrial areas to ensure prompt and effective maintenance for development of industries. The allegation of the petitioners that the land is in their possession and compensation was not paid is incorrect. Vide G.O.Ms.No.14 dated 1.1.2005, Government has issued orders for development of Township Project at Manikonda as a Joint Venture by APIIC Limited and Emaar Hills Township Private Limited (a Dubai based company) as SPV-I. In this regard, APIIC has placed acquisition proposal with the Collector, R.R. district for 541.00 Acres as a part of the above and to make a compact block, the patta lands in Sy.Nos.4 to 48 measuring to an extent of Ac.77-02 were acquired and handed over to APIIC. In turn, the APIIC has handed over the same to M/s Emaar Hills Township Pvt. Ltd., has erected barbed wire fencing around the above said lands as per the judgment of the Supreme Court and the same is under possession of M/s Emaar Hills Township (P) Limited, but not under the possession of petitioners as asserted by them. M/s Emaar Hills Township (P) Limited has got all necessary permissions from Government of A.P. and other local and competent authorities for developing Township and Golf Course and they have also started their project. It is further stated in the counter that with regard to passing of Express Highway through the land of petitioners, the balance land is around Ac.9-00 includes the project venture developed by M/s Emaar Hills Township (P) Limited and they are already under implementation of their work in the said survey No.48. At this stage, it is not possible to de- notify the acquired area for which award was already passed on 30.11.2005 vide Award No.B/245/2000 for an amount of Rs.5,01,49,550- 00 for Ac.77-02 including Sy.No.48(P) of the petitioner. The amount was already deposited with the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition (Industries), Ranga Reddy district for payment to the beneficiaries. The land was also handed over to M/s Emaar Hills for development of Golf Course and Integrated Project. Further, Writ Petition No.11619 of 2005 was dismissed by this Court on 25.10.2005. Further, S.L.P. filed against the same was also dismissed by the Supreme Court. Therefore, again filing the present writ petition is not justifiable. The writ petition is devoid of merits and liable to be dismissed. The learned counsel for respondents relied upon the judgments in GOVT.OF A.P. AND ANOTHER v. SYED AKBAR[1] and judgment in SOORARAM PRATAP REDDY v. DISTRICT COLLECTOR, RANGA REDDY DISTRICT[2] and submitted that once the land acquisition proceedings are concluded and even if the lands are lying vacant, the same cannot be de-notified as the said lands can be used for public purpose. I have given my earnest consideration to the respective submissions made by the learned counsel on either side and perused the material made available on record. Before going into the matter, it may be noticed that though the petitioners have no right whatsoever, except a right to be considered, if possible by the Government, but nonetheless, it is a disturbing feature that in large number of cases, the lands of the poorer sections of the society are acquired more than what is required for public purpose. In a given case, 20 Acres of land is required, land acquisition proceedings are initiated for Ac.40-00 and the rest of the land is not put to use for decades together and when the rightful owners requests for re- conveyance, the same is denied to them. In this case, the facts are not much in dispute, except saying that the award was already passed and the compensation amount was deposited. It is not the case of the respondents that the compensation was received by the petitioners. The only contention of the respondents is that under Section 48-A of the Land Acquisition Act, no land can be de- notified or re-conveyed, unless the owners are in possession of the property. Admittedly, the land was acquired for the purpose of laying Express Highway and it was already laid and the land of the petitioners to an extent of Ac.4-00 was covered by the road dividing the land into two pieces. What all the petitioners are expecting is that once the land acquisition purpose is completed, the lands, in which they are in possession, for which they did not receive compensation can be re-conveyed/de-notified. Further there is no necessity of any further acquisition proceedings since Government land is available adjacent to this land. Therefore, petitioners filed an application under Section 48(1) of the Act on 24.11.2008, which was not considered of by the authorities. Petitioners further pleaded that they are all poor agriculturists and marginal farmers and agriculture is their livelihood and if the lands which are not put to use, for which they did not receive any compensation nor they were dispossessed, can be de- notified for the purpose of re-conveyance. This submission made by the learned counsel for petitioner though appears to be reasonable, nothing can be done by the Courts once the land acquisition proceedings are initiated and concluded. However, I am of the opinion that this will not preclude the respondents from de-notifying the said lands from acquisition proceedings as the purpose of laying Express Highway has already been achieved and for future requirement lot of Government land is available adjacent to this land. Therefore, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the respondents are directed to consider and dispose of the representation purported to have been made by the petitioners on 24.11.2008, as per law, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of this order and communicate the same to the petitioners. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. No order as to costs. _____________ C.V.RAMULU, J Date: 6.4.2009 DA THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU W.P.No.26787 of 2008 6.4.2009 [1] (2005) 1 SCC 558 [2] (2008) 9 SCC 552