IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY, TWO THOUSAND EIGHT ONLY WRIT PETITION No.2035 of 2007 Between: A. Kalyan Rao, S/o. Venkata Gopal Rao, Hindu, R/o. Kanagala Village, Cherukupalli Mandal, Guntur District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Secretary, Department of Land Acquisition, Secretariat Buildings, Saifabad, Hyderabad. 2 The District Collector, Guntur, Guntur District. 3 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Tenali Revenue Division Tenali, Guntur District. 4 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Cherukupalli Mandal, Cherukupalli, Guntur District. 5 Land Acquisition Officer, Cum R.D.O. Tenali, Guntur District. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the petitioners: Mr. Sricharan for Sri T.Lakshminarayana. Counsel for the respondents: Asst. Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. The Court made the following : ORDER:- This Writ Petition is filed for a Writ of Mandamus to set aside notice dated 21-11-2006 issued under Section 5-A and declaration dated 12-1-2007 issued under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”), whereby an extent of Ac.5.34 cents of land, belonging to the petitioner, comprised in Survey No.376-1B of Kanagala village, Cherukupalli Mandal, Guntur District, is proposed to be acquired for providing house sites to weaker sections. Herd Sri Sricharan, learned Counsel, representing Sri T.Lakshmi Narayana, learned counsel for the petitioner, and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. The above mentioned extent of land along with other lands were proposed to be acquired by the respondents under notification dated 24-10-2006 issued under Section 4(1) of the Act. In response to the notice issued by respondent No.3 under Section 5-A of the Act, the petitioners filed their objections. After the purported completion of the enquiry, declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued on 12-1-2007. The petitioners questioned the declaration issued under Section 6, in this Writ Petition. In the counter-affidavit filed by the Revenue Divisional Officer & Land Acquisition Officer, Tenali Division, respondent No.3 herein, he is silent whether an order, on the objections filed by the petitioners, was passed by respondent No.2 or not. However, he stated in his counter-affidavit as under: “Para 3. … … However, considering the objection of the individual, the name of Smt.Sirisha Devi daughter of the petitioner has been included as an interested person in this case. Regarding to the other objection raised by the petitioner, the Mandal Revenue Officer has reported that the land belongs to Endowment Department and adjacent patta lands were proposed earlier under Indiramma Programme and the same were dropped in view of the Interim Orders of the Hon’ble High Court of A.P., Hyderabad, pertaining to Endowment Lands, and involvement of Educational Institutions in respect of adjacent patta lands. She finally reported that the list of beneficiaries identified under Indiramma Programme has got published in the village and no objections have been received. For providing pathway to the proposed land, an extent of Ac.0.18 cents in S.No.378- 2A3 was also proposed in the case. Keeping in view of the above, the Draft Declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act together with the record of enquiry on the objections raised by the petitioner have been submitted to the Collector, Guntur in this office Rc.No.1445/06/A dt.29-12- 2006. After perusal of the same, the Collector, Guntur has approved the Draft Declaration on 12-1-2007 and got published in the Guntur District Gazette, Extraordinary, Local No.6 dt.27-1-2007 at page Nos.1 and 2. The Declaration U/s.6 of the Land Acquisition Act was also published in the local newspapers namely 1) Eenadu Daily dated 29-1-2007 and 2) Udaya Bharatam Daily dt.26-1-2007. The Extract of the Draft Declaration was also got published in the locality as well as in the local offices on 27-1-2007 properly. At this stage, Sri A.Kalyana Rao, S/o.Venkata Gopala Rao the petitioner herein has filed the present writ petition before this Hon’ble Court and obtained interim orders in W.P.M.P.No.2610/07 in W.P.No.2035 of 2007 dt.6-2-2007. 4. In reply to the averments made in Para 2 of the petitioner’s affidavit it is submitted that the contents of the petitioner are not correct. As per the village accounts, the entire extent of Ac.5.34 cents is under possession and enjoyment of the petitioner herein. The Pattadar Pass Book has already been issued in favour of the petitioner. During 5-A enquiry, the petitioner has stated that an extent of Ac.3.00 cents was gifted to his daughter at the time of her marriage in the year 2005 and hence he is a small farmer. The Tahsildar, Cherukupalli has enquired and reported that the petitioner is residing at Guntur on business purpose at present and the entire extent of Ac.5.34 cents is under his possession and enjoyment”. Since the counter-affidavit is silent about the above mentioned aspect, I asked the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition whether respondent No.2 passed any order or not. After perusing the record, she replied that the record does not contain any such order passed by respondent No.2 on the objections submitted by the petitioner. Under the Scheme of the Act, the Collector is bound to consider the objections filed under Section 5-A of the Act by the landowners and take a decision on such objections. Thus, passing of an order under the said provision is the pre-requisite for the Collector and his subordinate officers to proceed further to take further steps towards acquisition of the land. In the absence of any pleading or evidence to show that respondent No.2 passed such an order under Section 5-A, declaration under Section 6 of the Act cannot be sustained. Accordingly, the impugned declaration is set aside. Respondent No.2 is left free to pass a detailed order on the objections filed by the petitioners before respondent No.3 and communicate the same to the petitioners, before seeking to proceed further with the proposed acquisition. The Writ Petition is accordingly ordered. ----------------------------- ------- C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J 21-2-2008 MNR