IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF ANDHRA PRADESH : HYDERABAD THURSDAY, THE TWENTY NINTH [29H] DAY OF APRIL, TWO THOUSAND AND TEN Present: HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY & HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATHY A.S.No.2608 of 2000 Between: The Land Acquisition Officer Mandal Revenue Officer, Rajanagaram … Appellant And: Karri Venkata Reddy … Respondent HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY & HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATHY A.S.No.2608 of 2000 JUDGMENT: (Per AGR, J) Land Acquisition Officer-cum-Mandal Revenue Officer, Rajanagaram filed this appeal under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, aggrieved by the enhancement of compensation from Rs.7,500/- per acre to Rs.15,000/- per acre in OP No.61 of 1992 dated 07.09.1999 by the Additional Senior Civil Judge, Rajahmundry. 2. An extent of Ac.2.13 cents of land in Sy.No.179/2 of Kondagunturu village of Rajanagaram Mandal, belonging to the respondent/claimant was acquired by the Government for the purpose of providing house sites to 44 backward classes and economically backward class families of Kondagunturu village. The draft notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act (for short ‘the Act’) was published in the Gazette on 26.11.1985, followed by publication of draft declaration under Section 6 of the Act on 05-07-1986. The Land Acquisition Officer, after following the procedure laid down under the Act and after obtaining necessary sales statistics three years preceding to the date of publication of the notification, in his award No.2/87 dated 25.01.1987 fixed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.7,500/- per acre and solatium at 30% and interest at 6% per annum from the date of taking possession till the date of payment. The claimant, having dissatisfied with the fixation of the market value, filed an application under Section 18 of the Act to refer the matter to the civil Court for due determination of the compensation. On reference being received by the civil Court and on receipt of the notice, the claimant filed claim statement on 30.12.1993 and 08.11.1994 seeking compensation at Rs.1,00,000/- per acre. 3. In order to substantiate the inadequacy of compensation, PWs.1 to 3 were examined and Exs.A.1 and A.2 were marked on behalf of the claimant. On behalf of the Referring Officer, RWs.1 and 2 were examined and Exs.B.1 to B.4 were marked. 4. PW.1-claimant deposed that an extent of Ac.2.13 cents situate in RS No.179/2 of Kondagunturu village of Rajanagaram Mandal, was acquired by the Government for house sites and the said land is fertile and fit for house sites and industries. He further deposed that on two sides of the acquired land, there are roads and houses constructed, besides a rice mill. PWs.2 and 3 corroborated the evidence of PW.1 in all respects. 5. The award-Ex.B.1 contains the features of the acquired land. It also discloses that the claimant owns Ac.10.15 cents of land including the acquired land and there are houses and rice mill in the other extent of land. So also, Ex.B.2 rough sketch prepared at the time of acquisition shows that there is a rice mill in the remaining extent of land covered by RS No.179. There is a road passing on the east of the acquired land leading to Kondaguntur village. The said road is branch road of main road from Rajahmundry to Kesavaram. In between the acquired land and the said road, there is land in Sy.No.176. Under Ex.A.1 registration extract of the sale deed, PW.2 purchased six cents of land from Malleti Veerraju for Rs.2,800/- under its original. Under Ex.A.2 registration extract of the sale deed, 10 cents of land in RS No.366 was sold at Rs.50,000/- per acre. The reference Court, after taking into consideration the value fetched by Ex.A.1 sale deed, which is at Rs.47,500/- per acre, as basis for comparable sale, fixed the market value for the acquired land at Rs.20,000/- per acre without any basis. If the said value is taken into consideration and even if 50% is deducted, the same works out to Rs.23,750/- per acre. The reference Court by further deducting 1/4th basing upon Ex.A.1, fixed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.15,000/- per acre, which is not at all warranted. But in the absence of any cross-objections, we have no other option except to confirm the fixation of the market value by the reference court. There are no merits in the appeal. 6. In the result, the appeal is dismissed. No order as to costs. _________________ A.GOPAL REDDY, J ___________________ G.V.SEETHAPATHY, J Date: 29.04.2010 Bss/lrkm