IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 22790 of 2007 Between: 1 Smt.Chandana Subba Lakshmi W/o.Chandana Mohan Rao 2 Allaka Satyanarayana S/o.Late Narsimha Rao 3 Allaka Sunitha, W/o.Allaka Satyanarayana (All R/o. Plot No.4 and 5, Kausalya Estates, Amravathi Co-op, Society, Karhana, Secunderabad.) ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Special Deputy Collector Land Acquisition, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad, Tank Bund, Hyderabad. 2 The Deputy Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Secunderabad Division, Secunderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) 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 of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction and: (a) To call for the records in File No. D3/5789/2007, both dated 12.10.2007 published in Indian Express on 14.10.2007 and 16.10.2007 issued by the Respondent No.1 and other connected records from the Respondent No.1. (b) To quash and set aside the impugned Notices No.D3/5789/2007, both dated 12.10.2007 published in Indian Express on 14.10.2007 and 16.10.2007 issued by the Respondent No.1 by declaring it as illegal, irrational and unconstitutional, (c) To declare the action of the respondents in invoking of Section 17(4) of the Act, by dispensing enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act, as illegal and unconstitutional, and to direct the Respondents not to dispossess the Petitioners from their property under the impugned notice. (d) And to pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.WASIM AHMED KHAN Counsel for Respondent NO.1: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION Counsel for Respondent No.2: Smt. Kalpana Ekbote The Court at the stage of admission made the following : ORDER: The petitioners are the tenants in respect of premises bearing No.3-1-10 to 13 of Bholakpur, Secunderabad. Through a notiﬁcation dated 12-10-2007 published under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, ‘the Act’), the District Collector, Hyderabad proposed to acquire the said premises for the purpose of widening of the road. The enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act was dispensed with and the declaration under Section 6 was published on the next day itself. The petitioners feel aggrieved by the action of the respondents. They contend that the only remedy available to a citizen against compulsory acquisition was dispensed with, contrary to law. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. The petitioners are only tenants and it appears that the owners have given consent for the proposed acquisition. All the same, interests of the petitioners cannot be ignored. The occasion for the petitioners to ventilate their grievances would have arisen only when the enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act is held. Widening of a road cannot be said to be such an urgent necessity as to dispense with the enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act. This Court is of the view that even at this stage, the respondents can be required to conduct the enquiry. Hence, the writ petition is partly allowed setting aside the notiﬁcation dated 13-10-2007 issued under Section 6 of the Act and sustaining the notiﬁcation dated 12-10-2007 issued under Section 4(1) of the Act. The respondents shall conduct enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act. It shall be open to the petitioners to submit their representation putting forward their contentions within two weeks from today without waiting for any formal communication and the respondents are directed to publish notiﬁcation under Section 6 of the Act only after considering the representation of the petitioners. There shall be no order as to costs. L.NARASIMHA REDDY, J Dated: 16-09-2008 ks ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Special Deputy Collector Land Acquisition, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad, Tank Bund, Hyderabad. 2 The Deputy Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Secunderabad Division, Secunderabad. 3 Two CCS to the Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad (OUT). 4 Two CD copies