IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE SECOND DAY OF MAY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.7425 of 2008 Between: 1 G. Suerndra Babu S/o Gopaiah R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. 2 Thikala Naeswara Rao S/o Subbaiah R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. 3 Thokala Venkayamma W/o Sivaiah R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. 4 Kommineni Siva Nagendramma w/o Ratnababu R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. 5 Challa Venkateswarlu S/o Ramaiah R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. 6 Nidumukkal Rajagopal Rao S/o Panakalu R/o Ponnekallu village, Tadikonda Mandal, Guntur District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The District Collector, Guntur District, guntur 2 Land Acquisition Officer cum Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, Guntur District. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate Writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the lands though the petitioners are small farmers and the order of the 2nd respondent dated 16-2-2008 vide Rc. No. 1678/2006/K in Pursuant to the Notification in Rc. No. 3035/2006/G1 dated 19-11- 2007 rejecting the objections of the petitioners without giving them opportunity for personal hearing as arbitrary, illegal, and in violation of Principles of natural justice and consequently direct the respondents not to acquire the petitioners lands as they are small farmers and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.RAMA RAO GHANTA Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.7425 of 2008 ORDER: Petitioners are the owners of certain extents of lands in different survey numbers situated at Ponnekallu village of Tadikonda Mandal in Guntur District. Their lands were proposed to be acquired by the Government for providing house sites to the downtrodden people, by issuance of a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”) on 11.09.2006. Thereafter, petitioners were served with notices to submit their objections and also to attend the enquiry to be conducted under Section 5-A of the Act. Accordingly, petitioners submitted objections on 19.11.2007 and thereafter, the 2nd respondent-Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, conducted enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act. However, the 2nd respondent, without considering the objections of the petitioners, issued the endorsement dated 16.02.2008, rejecting the objections of the petitioner. Hence, this writ petition. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. A bare perusal of the impugned endorsement dated 16.02.2008 clearly indicates that the 2nd respondent has not at all applied his mind. Further, the 2nd respondent is only conferred with the power to hold an enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act and he cannot pass any order rejecting the objections and only the District Collector concerned is competent to pass any order under Section 5-A of the Act. Evidently, the 2nd respondent, by impugned endorsement, rejected the objections of the petitioners. Therefore, this Court is of the view that the impugned endorsement is liable to be set aside. Further, it is brought to the notice of this Court that pursuant to the impugned endorsement, draft declaration under Section 6 of the Act was approved on 21.02.2008 and published on 03.03.2008. For the foregoing reasons, the impugned endorsement dated 16.02.2008 and consequential draft declaration, dated 03.03.2008, issued under Section 6 of the Act are hereby set aside. The 2nd respondent is hereby directed to issue notices to the petitioners afresh, notifying the date of hearing and the petitioners are hereby directed to appear on the date so fixed and ventilate their grievance. It is needless to observe that the 2nd respondent-Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, after affording an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioners, submit his remarks to the 1st respondent-District Collector, Guntur, enabling him to pass orders under Section 5-A of the Act. Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed in part. There shall be no order as to costs. __________________________ (GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA, J) 2nd May 2008 Note : Furnish C.C. in one week. (B/o) sh To 1 The District Collector, Guntur District, Guntur. 2 Land Acquisition Officer cum Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, Guntur District. 3 Two C.Cs to 4 Two C.D. copies.