HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No.8319 of 2010 ORDER: Aggrieved by the initiation of acquisition proceedings to acquire the petitioners’ lands for establishment of an LPG Bottling Unit for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, the petitioners have invoked the jurisdiction of this Court. While several grounds are raised in the Writ Petition, Sri S.Niranjan Reddy, Learned Counsel for the petitioners, would, however, urge that the impugned proceedings of the third respondent dated 09.03.2010 are required to be set aside on the following grounds: i. On 28.06.2007 the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIIC) had informed the District Collector, Anantapur that Ac.74.06 cents of Government land would be utilized for the purpose of establishing the bottling plant and as such initiation of acquisition proceedings to acquire the petitioners’ lands runs contrary to the requisition of APIIC. ii. The objections filed by the petitioners, to the notice under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’), were not properly considered. The section 4(1) notification, issued on 02.11.2007, admittedly, includes the petitioners’ lands. The letter addressed by the APIIC to the District Collector is prior thereto i.e. on 28.06.2007. The very fact that, despite the request of APIIC, the Government had initiated proceedings under Section 4(1) of the Act to acquire the petitioners’ land would itself go to show that, among the lands acquired, the petitioners’ lands were also included. Reliance placed on earlier proceedings dated 28.06.2007 is, therefore, of no avail. The attention of this Court has been drawn to Objection No.7 whereunder the petitioner contended that, since the bridge had come up in the schedule land in National Highway-7, access to the LPG Bottling Unit was lost. This objection was rejected by the District Collector, Anantapur holding that from out of Ac.9.04 cents of land pertaining to the petitioners, as proposed for acquisition, approximately Ac.1.00 was being utilized for formation of the road from Thaticherla Road to the Bottling Unit; constructions such as buildings, fire water tanks, high tension substation and parking of trucks etc., were being taken up in the remaining extent; the Technical Expert Committee visited the entire area; they had taken note of the available lands; and finally, based on the technical requirements, operational needs and feasibility study conducted by the competent authority, these lands were selected. Learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, on instructions, would submit that, except the lands belonging to the petitioners, the remaining lands acquired had culminated in awards being passed and compensation also being paid. The order of the District Collector, Anantapur rejecting the objections raised by the petitioners, in the enquiry held under Section 5-A of the Act, cannot be construed either as arbitrary or illegal. On both the counts, urged by the Learned Counsel, the challenge to the impugned proceedings must fail. I see no reason, therefore, to interdict the acquisition proceedings. The Writ Petition is, accordingly, dismissed. However, in the circumstances, without costs. RAMESH RANGANATHAN, J Date:15.04.2010 usd