IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE NINTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 9899 of 2004 Between: Potluri Atchiah Gari Dharma Sathram (Regd) Rep. by its Founder Family Member Potluri Narasimha rao, S/o. Suryanarayana, age 77 Years, R/o. Gudlavalleru (V&M), Krishna District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The District Collector, Krishna District, Machilipatnam. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, & Land Acquisition Officer, Gudivada, Krishna District. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.VIJAY KUMAR Counsel for the Respondents: AGP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : ORDER: At the interlocutory stage, the writ petition itself is taken up for hearing and disposal with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. An extent of Ac.5.64 cents of land comprised in Survey No.292/2A of Gudlavalleru Village and Mandal, Krishna District, which belonged to the petitioner, was notified for acquisition under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’) on 22.12.1998 and a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued on 23.12.1998. By invoking urgency clause, the enquiry was dispensed with. Possession was taken by paying 80% of the market value towards compensation. After paying the sum of Rs.4,48,493/- towards 80% of the compensation, award enquiry was conducted on 21.01.2003, in which, a representation was made on behalf of the petitioner to fix the market value of Rs.1,70,000/- per acre apart from fixing the solatium and additional market value at 30% and 12% under the Act. Since final award has not been passed and balance compensation has not been paid, the petitioner filed the present writ petition. The Revenue Divisional Officer, Gudivada – respondent No.2 filed a counter-affidavit, in which, the above-mentioned facts have been admitted. It is stated in paragragh 6 of the counter-affidavit that the representation of the trustee of the petitioner to fix higher value of the land i.e. at Rs.1,70,000/- per acre apart from the solatium and additional market value, was placed before the ‘Higher Authorities’. At the hearing, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition stated that in view of the representation made by the trustee of the petitioner claiming higher compensation than what was recommended by the Mandal Revenue Officer, Gudlavalleru, the matter was referred to a Committee, which is seized of the matter and no decision has yet been taken. Having considered the above mentioned facts and the submissions of the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, I am of the view that there is absolutely no justification whatsoever for the respondents to keep the issue in cold storage without passing an award. It is not permissible for the respondents to defer passing of the award on the mere pretext of the petitioner making claim for higher compensation. Such a conduct on the part of the respondents is subversive of Rule of Law and the Constitution. The writ petition is, therefore, disposed of. The respondents are directed to pass the award by taking into consideration the market value by following the procedure under the provisions of the Act within a period of four (4) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. On such award being passed, the payment shall be made within a period of four (4) weeks thereafter. As a sequel to disposal of main petition, WPMP.Nos.12599 of 2004 and 31958 of 2006 filed by the petitioner are disposed of as infructuous. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J 9th JUNE, 2008 kvni