IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.4531 of 2008 Between: 1 Pondugula Sambasiva Rao, S/o.late Venkateswara Rao, R/o.Kondalapadu Village, G.Konduru Mandal, Krishna District. 2 Pondugula Subba Rao, S/o.late Venkateswara Rao, R/o.Kondalapadu Village, G.Konduru Mandal, Krishna District. 3 Pondugula Anjamma, W/o.late Venkateswara Rao, R/o.Kondalapadu Village, G.Konduru Mandal, Krishna District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The District Collector & District Magistrate, Krishna District, Chilakalapudi, Machilipatnam, Krishna District. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer/Sub Collector/ Land Acquisition Officer, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Vijayawada-2, Krishna Dist., .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue any writ order or direction more particularly a writ in the nature of mandamus by declaring the impugned notification under Sec.6 issued by the 1st respondent Collector in his proceedings in RC.No. G4/5452/07, dated 9-1-2008 as contrary to law , illegal and violative of Articles 21 and 300-A of the Constitution and further quash the same. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.Y.SUBRAHMANYAM Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA WRIT PETITION No.4531 of 2008 ORDER: Petitioners are the owners of the land admeasuring Ac.0.95 cents in R.S.No.87/2, situated at Kandulapadu village of G.Konduru Mandal in Krishna District. Government proposed to acquire the said land for providing house sites to the weaker sections under Indiramma Programme (Phase-II), by issuance of a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”). Thereafter, notice under Section 5-A of the Act was issued to the petitioners calling upon them to submit their objections, and pursuant thereto, petitioners submitted their objections. The second respondent-Land Acquisition Officer enquired into their objections and recommended the acquisition. On the basis of the same, the first respondent passed an order dated 31.12.2007 rejecting the objections of the petitioners. Thereafter a draft declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued on 09.01.2008. Aggrieved thereby, they filed this writ petition seeking to quash the entire land acquisition proceedings. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. When the matter was taken up for hearing on the last occasion, the learned counsel for the petitioners contended that though the second respondent stated that he conducted an enquiry under Section 5-A of the Act, petitioners were not given an opportunity of personal hearing. In view of the same, this Court directed the learned Assistant Government Pleader to produce the record and accordingly, the record is produced today. From a perusal of the record, this Court is satisfied that the petitioners were not given an opportunity of personal hearing, which is mandatory under Section 5-A(2) of the Act. As per Section 5-A(2) of the Act, every objection under sub-section (1) of Section 5-A of the Act shall be made to the Collector in writing and the Collector shall give the objector an opportunity of being heard in person or by any person authorized by him in this behalf. Therefore, it is clear that the respondents have not complied with the mandatory requirement under Section 5-A(2) of the Act. Hence, the proceedings of the first respondent dated 31.12.2007 and the draft declaration dated 09.01.2008 are liable to be set aside. Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed in part setting aside the proceedings of the first respondent dated 31.12.2007, and the consequential draft declaration dated 09.01.2008 issued under Section 6 of the Act. The second respondent is hereby directed to fix a particular date for hearing the petitioners, duly issuing a notice to the petitioners enabling them to appear in person and submit their objections on the date so fixed, and thereafter appropriate orders may be passed. There shall be no order as to costs. __________ 25.03.2008 sh ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The District Collector & District Magistrate, Krishna District, Chilakalapudi, Machilipatnam, Krishna District. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer/Sub Collector/ Land Acquisition Officer, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Vijayawada-2, Krishna Dist., 3. 2CCs to 4. 2CD copies