IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE SRI ANIL R. DAVE, THE CHIEF JUSTICE And HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO : 509 of 2008 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated 18/02/2008 in WP NO : 4359 OF 2007 on the file of the High Court.) Between: 1 Aanam Veera Reddy, S/o. Kulambi Reddy, R/o. Prathipadu Village, Prathipadu Mandal, Guntur District. 2 Notu Subba Reddy, S/o. Veerabhadra Reddy, R/o. Prathipadu Village, Prathipadu Mandal, Guntur District. 3 Gangireddy Nageswara REddy, S/o. Venkateswara Reddy, R/o. Prathipadu Village, Prathipadu Mandal, Guntur District. ..... APPELLANTS AND 1 State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. byits Secretary, Department of land Acquisition, Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Guntur, Guntur District. 3 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, Guntur District. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Appellants : MR.T.LAKSHMI NARAYANA Counsel for the Respondents : GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : HON'BLE SRI ANIL R. DAVE, THE CHIEF JUSTICE And HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.SUBHASH REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO : 509 of 2008 JUDGMENT : (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice R.Subhash Reddy) This writ appeal under Clause 15 of Letters Patent, is filed by the original petitioners in W.P.No.4359 of 2007, aggrieved by the order of the learned single Judge, dated 18th of February 2008, passed in that writ petition. 2. In the writ petition, the appellants herein have questioned the land acquisition proceedings. The appellants/petitioners claim to be the owners and possessors of land admeasuring Ac.1.20 cents, Ac.1.37 cents, Ac.0.58 ½ cents and Ac.0.56 ½ cents, situated in Sy.Nos.775/B, 775/C and 775/D respectively of Prathipadu village of Guntur District. The said lands were notified for acquisition for public purposes i.e. for providing house sites to weaker sections and notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) was issued on 2nd of August 2006. In the notification, by invoking urgency clause, inquiry contemplated under Section 5-A of the Act is dispensed with. But however, when there was a general direction from the Government, though inquiry under Section 5-A of the Act was dispensed with, it appears that inquiry was conducted and in response to notices issued by the inquiring authority under Section 5-A of the Act, the appellants herein participated in the inquiry conducted on 04.10.2006. In the inquiry proceedings, they merely stated that they have no objection for acquisition of lands, provided the compensation is paid at the rate of Rs.8 lakhs per acre. When further proceedings were taken up and declaration was published as contemplated under Section 6 of the Act, they have filed the writ petition mainly on two grounds, namely, that agricultural land was notified for acquisition without its conversion as per the statutory requirement as contemplated under Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non- agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006. Further, it was also the case of the petitioners before the learned single Judge that the respondents have not followed the procedure contemplated under Section 5-A of the Act. By rejecting both the contentions, the learned single Judge dismissed the writ petition. 3. In this appeal, the learned counsel for appellants contends that asmuch as the notification was issued on 2nd of August 2006 by invoking urgency clause, the respondents ought to have conducted inquiry under Section 5-A of the Act only after expiry of 90 days, as possession was not taken within the said time. The other objection is that there are also Government lands, which are suitable for house sites and leaving the said lands, the respondents have notified the lands in question. Asmuch as they are agriculturists and the same is a source of livelihood for them, the respondents ought not have acquired their lands. 4. We have perused the copy of notification issued under Section 4(1) of the Act. While it is true that notification was issued dispensing with inquiry contemplated under Section 5-A of the act, but it is submitted by the learned Government Pleader that in view of the general direction issued by the Government, in all such cases, inquiries are conducted as contemplated under Section 5-A of the Act, and in response to the notices issued under Section 5-A of the Act, the appellants herein have appeared before the inquiring authority on 04.10.2006 and submitted a representation. 5. When the matter is taken up, the learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents, has produced the original record. The record discloses that the appellants have merely claimed the compensation at the rate of Rs.8 lakhs per acre, without objecting for the very objection. In that view of the matter, it is not open for the appellants to question the acquisition at this stage. More over, either in the inquiry conducted under Section 5-A of the Act, or in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, the petitioners have not pleaded that there are alternative lands which are suitable for house sites. At this belated stage, petitioners cannot be permitted to raise such grounds having not utilized the opportunity in the inquiry and by not making such averments in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition. Though inquiry was conducted before the expiry of 90 days, but asmuch as the conduct of inquiry and participation of appellants in such inquiry is not in dispute, it cannot be said that the inquiry conducted before expiry of 90 days has resulted in any prejudice to the appellants. 6. In that view of the matter, keeping in mind that the very acquisition is for a laudable purpose, namely, for providing house sites to the weaker sections, we do not find any valid ground in this appeal to interfere with the order passed by the learned single Judge. 7. The appeal is devoid of merit and it is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. _________________ ANIL R. DAVE, CJ 26th June 2008 ______________________ R. SUBHASH REDDY, J ajr To 1 The Secretary, Department of Land Acquisition, State of Andhra Pradesh, Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Guntur, Guntur District. 3 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, Guntur District.