IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.4189 of 2008 Between: 1 M.Venkateswara Rao S/o. Late Venkatramaiah R/o. Flat No.302, Tirumala Residency, Flat No. 52/A, Vengalrao nagar, Hyderabad. 2 M.Madhavi W/o. Late Rammohan Rao R/o. Flat No. 204, Sai Sign Apartments, Road No. 1, Vidyutnagar, Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad. 3 M.Hymavathy W/o. Late Ammaiah R/o. Plot No. 48, near Loyola Model School, Saradanagar, Vansthalipuram, Hyderabad. 4 M.Chandrasekhara Rao S/o. Late Venkatramaiah R/o. D.No.2-12, Plot No.2, NearLakshminarayana Tample, Veterinary Colony, Visakhapatnam. 5 Garikapati Lakshmi W/o. Late Jayachandra R/o. Flat No.108 Ganga Block, Dolphin Estate, Kamayya Thopu Center, Vijayawada. 6 M.Koteswara Rao S/o. Late Sambaiah R/o. D.No.60-6-5, 3rd line, Technical nagar, Behind Siddartha Arts Collega , Vijayawada. 7 M.Satyanarayana S/o. Late Sambaiah R/o. 40-25-22/1, Narravari Stree, Patamata Lanka, Vijayawada. 8 M.Sivaramakrishna Prasad S/o. Late Sambaiah R/o. D.No.67-4-15, Ramalayam Stree, Patamata Lanka, Vijayawada. 9 Vallabhaneni Naga Sulochana S/o. Ramakrishna R/o. 67-4-21, Ramalayam Stree, Patamata, Vijayawada, Krishna Dist. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Government of A.P., rep. by its Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Deportment, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 The Municipal Corporation of Vijayawada, rep. by its Commissioner, Vijayawada, Krishna 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 will be pleased to issue writ or direction preferably writ of Mandamus declaring the inaction of the respondents in finalizing the issue of acquisition of the land of the petitioners admeasuring Ac. 0-49 cents Sy.No. 137/2 of Patamata ( V ) by finalizing the proposals dated. 17- 12-2007 for providing alternative land as illegal, contrary to the direction issued by Hon'ble High Court in W.P.No. 17521/02 dt. 13-9- 2002 and violative of principles of natural justice and consequently direct the respondents to acquire the said land by accepting the proposals vide Rc.G2-14879/98 Dated. 17-12-2007 or else allow the petitioners to enjoy their property by granting permission for construction of houses and pass Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.KOWTURU VINAYA KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR MUNCIPAL ADMN. & URBAN DEV. The Court made the following: Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KSRANI} THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.4189 of 2008 ORDER: This writ petition is filed for a Writ of Mandamus to declare the inaction of the respondents in finalizing the proposal to acquire the petitioners’ land, admeasuring Ac.0.49 cents, comprised in Sy.No.137/2 of Patamata village, as illegal and arbitrary. Heard Sri M.V.Velu, learned counsel, representing Sri Kowturu Vinaya Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioners, and Smt.G.Jhansi, learned Standing Counsel for respondent No.2 and perused the record. A perusal of the record shows that the proposal for acquiring the petitioners’ land for the purpose of 80’ road from Master Plan (Fun Times Road) to Panta Kaluva Road is hanging fire for a long long time. In one of the recent endorsements dated 17.12.2007, the Office of the Commissioner of respondent No.2 put forth certain proposals to the petitioners. In response to the same, the petitioners conveyed their views by letter dated 22.12.2007 and made a representation on 28.01.2008, requesting the respondents to take a decision one way or the other on the proposal to acquire their land. The grievance of the petitioners is that by not finalizing the acquisition proceedings, they are denied the benefit of enjoying their property. The grievance of the petitioners appears to be legitimate. If respondent No.2 seeks to acquire the land of the petitioners, it is bound to act with reasonable dispatch and cannot allow the proposals to be kept in suspended animation. Under these circumstances, the Writ Petition is disposed of, with a direction to respondent No.2 to take a decision on the proposal to acquire the petitioners’ land, within a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, and communicate the same to the petitioners. ____________________________ C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Dated: 28.02.2008 Dsr