THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO And THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR 13th August 2009 WRIT APPEAL NO.884 of 2002 Between: Land Acquisition Officer and Revenue Divisional Officer, Peddapalli, Karimnagar District. …APPELLANT AND J.Sriranga Rao, S/o.Ratnakar, 70 years, R/o.Nag Village, Kamanpur Mandal, Karimnagar District, presently residing at Hyderabad. …RESPONDENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO And THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO.884 of 2002 JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon’ble Sri Justice Sanjay Kumar) By order dated 13.03.2002 in Writ Petition No.3487 of 1993, the learned Single Judge set aside the proceedings dated 16.12.1992 passed by the Land Acquisition Officer-cum-Revenue Divisional Officer, Peddapalli, Karimnagar District-the appellant herein, rejecting the application filed by the writ petitioner/respondent herein under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 {“the Act, 1894’ for brevity} and directed the appellant herein to re-determine the compensation in respect of the land of the writ petitioner under the provisions of Section 28-A of the Act, 1894, and to pay the same within three {3} months from the date of receipt of a copy of that order. The land of the respondent/writ petitioner admeasuring Ac.1.10 gts in Survey No.4/B situated at Adrial Village, Karimnagar District, was acquired and an award was passed on 18.09.1987 fixing the compensation therefor. The respondent/writ petitioner filed an application under Section 28-A of the Act, 1894, seeking enhancement of the compensation on par with the compensation fixed by the reference Court under Section 18 of the Act, 1894 for identically situated lands, in O.P.No.77 of 1988. The judgment in the said O.P. was passed on 30.10.1989 and as per the limitation stipulated in the Act, 1894, the application of the respondent/writ petitioner had to be filed within three {3} months from the said date, which expired on 29.01.1990. It is the case of the respondent/writ petitioner that he filed the application on 27.01.1990. The same is denied by the appellant. It is, however, relevant to note that the application of the respondent/writ petitioner was acknowledged by the Superintendent of the appellant’s office and no evidence has been placed on record either before the learned Single Judge or before us that the signature of the Superintendent is not genuine or that he was involved in any fraud or was in collusion with the respondent/writ petitioner. It is admitted by the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition appearing for the appellant that no statement was recorded from the Superintendent and no disciplinary action has been initiated against him in this regard. That being so, the benefit of doubt necessarily has to be given to the respondent/writ petitioner and it would have to be accepted that his application was submitted on 27.01.1990, prior to the expiry of the three {3} months period. The only contention urged by the learned Government Pleader is that the authorities found that the application of the respondent/writ petitioner was signed in February 1990 and it necessarily follows that the application was time barred. We are, however, unable to accept this contention as the said date in the application may very well have been manipulated or altered. Further, the same does not negate the fact that the Superintendent of the appellant’s office acknowledged the receipt of the application on 27.01.1990. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the learned Judge was absolutely correct in setting aside the order of rejection passed by the appellant denying the benefits under Section 28-A of the Act, 1894, to the respondent/writ petitioner. The order under appeal is bereft of merit and does not call for any interference. The Writ Appeal is accordingly dismissed. The appellant shall re-determine the compensation payable to the respondent herein under Section 28-A of the Act, 1894, and pay the same within a period of three {3} months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs. _________________ (B.PRAKASH RAO, J) _________________ (SANJAY KUMAR, J) 13th August 2009 RRB