IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE 29TH DAY OF APRIL, TWO THOUSAND AND TEN PRESENT HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATHY APPEAL SUIT No.2112 OF 2000 Between: The Special Deputy Collector, Anantapur. … Appellant And P.Siva Reddy and four others. … Respondents This Court made the following: HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATHY APPEAL SUIT No.2112 OF 2000 JUDGMENT: - (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice A.Gopal Reddy) This appeal under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for brevity, “the Act”) by the Special Deputy Collector-cum- Land Acquisition Officer is directed against the order and decree of the Principal Senior Civil Judge, Anantapur in O.P.No.202 of 1993 dated 28.04.2000, whereby the reference made under Section 18 of the Act was answered in favour of the claimants enhancing the compensation for the acquired lands from Rs.20,000/- to Rs.28,000/- per acre. Various extents of lands in various survey numbers in all measuring about Ac.16-62 cents situated in Jayapuram village were acquired for the purpose of submersion of PABR dam by issuing notification under Section 4(1) of the Act, dated 10.01.1990. The Land Acquisition Officer after following the due formalities in his award No.12/92, dated 22.02.1992 fixed the market value of the acquired lands at Rs.20,000/- per acre. Claimants on receipt of the compensation under protest sought for reference to the civil Court seeking enhancement of the compensation. On reference being made, the claimants appeared and filed claim statement. On behalf of the claimants, P.Ws.1 and 2 were examined and Ex.A1-registration extract of the sale deed, dated 06.02.1988, was marked. On behalf of the referring officer, Ex.B1 - award and Ex.B2 – award proceedings were marked. P.W.1, who is the 2nd claimant, stated that out of the acquired lands, they got 1/4th share and other shares belong to the brothers of her husband late Siva Reddy. The acquired lands are irrigated through the well and are fertile in nature and there are 57 coconut trees, 20 mango trees and other number of trees in the said lands. They used to raise paddy and get double crop and 40 to 45 bags of paddy per acre and getting income of Rs.20,000/- per acre and Rs.20,000/- per annum. The fields of Peddakokkuntla and Jayapuram are adjacent fields and they are both similar in nature. P.W.2, who purchased an extent of Ac.1-23 cents of land under Ex.A1 - Registered sale deed, justified that he purchased the lands from one Patil Rami Reddy, Thimma Reddy and Prabhakar Reddy at Rs.45,000/-. The Jayapuram lands are situated nearby the lands of Kowkuntla and Mylarampalli village and are similar in fertility. Since the notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was issued two years after the sale transaction, the claimants are entitled to escalation for two years at Rs.4,500/- per acre, as per the sale transaction under Ex.A1. Since the reference court fixed the market value of the acquired lands at Rs.28,000/- per acre by giving necessary deductions, due to the fact that the lands covered under Ex.A1 are adjacent to the village and in the absence of any cross appeal by the claimants, we are not inclined to interfere with the fixation of the market value arrived by the reference court. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. No costs. __________________ A.GOPAL REDDY, J ____________________ G.V.SEETHAPATHY, J 29th April 2010 lmv