IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 12841 of 2000 Between: 1 Parna China Sriramulu S/o Kondaiah R/o. Penubarthy Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District. 2 Vonkivelu Ramana Reddy S/o. Venkata Subba Reddy R/o. Penubarthy Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District. 3 Bulagakula Subbaramaiah S/o Munuswamy R/o. Penubarthy Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District. 4 Gotigundala Janakirami Reddy S/o Bali Reddy R/o. Penubarthy Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District. .... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Special Collector (Land Acquisition) Telugu Ganga Project, near APSRTC Bus Stand, Nellore. 2 The Spl.Dy.Collector (Land Acquisition) Telugu Ganga Project, Rapur at Nellore, Neelagiri Sangam, Mulapet, Nellore .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioners:None appeared Counsel for the Respondents: AGP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : O R D E R: This writ petition is filed for a writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in not paying ex gratia, as per the report of the Forest Range Officer, Rapur Range, Dachur, for the tamarind and soap nut trees and as per the report of the Assistant Director of Horticulture, Nellore, for other fruit bearing trees and as per the report of the Irrigation Department for the wells, in respect of various lands belonging to the petitioners situated in Penubarthi Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District as arbitrary and illegal. At the hearing, there is no representation for the petitioners. I have heard the arguments of learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition and perused the record. The petitioners were the assignees of the lands mentioned in their affidavit. The said lands were acquired by the respondents for the purpose of Kandaleru Reservoir of the Telugu Ganga Project. The grievance of the petitioners is that there were tamarind, soap nut and other fruit bearing trees and wells situated on their lands, but no ex gratia has been paid in respect thereof despite valuation reports given by the Forest and Horticulture Departments. In the counter-affidavit filed by the Special Deputy Collector (LA), Telugu Ganga Project, Rapur, Nellore District, it is, inter alia, stated that petitioner No.1 was assigned Acs.4.09 cents, petitioner No.2 was assigned Acs.3.04 cents, petitioner No.3 was assigned Acs.5.00 and petitioner No.4 was assigned Acs.4.00 in various survey numbers of Penubarthi Village, Rapur Mandal, Nellore District between 1968 and 1979. The above mentioned lands were acquired for the purpose of foreshore submersion of Kandaleru Reservoir under the Telugu Ganga Project. It is further averred that the Land Acquisition Officer inspected the said lands and recorded the existing trees and thereafter the Special Collector, Telugu Ganga Project, Nellore, also inspected the lands in question and confirmed the trees as noted by the Land Acquisition Officer and that the officials of the Horticulture, Engineering and Forest Departments also inspected the tress, wells and structures and furnished estimates, the details of which were given at para 3 of the counter-affidavit. It is further averred that on the basis of the said reports, the Land Acquisition Officer worked out the compensation by reducing 5% on the valuation made by the Assistant Director, Horticulture, 20% in cases of wells and ‘uddis’ and 50% on the thatched huts, since they were not dwelling houses, which were found without doors or other amenities and deducting 10% to 50% on the estimates made by the Forest Range Officer; that the Special Collector, Telugu Ganga Project, Nellore, also inspected the lands and approved the above mentioned rates proposed by the Land Acquisition Officer and that accordingly payment of ex gratia was made. The respondent reiterated his contention that as all the assignments were made after 1954, a lump sum ex gratia and other benefits were paid to the petitioners as per G.O.Ms.No.1307 Revenue (Assn-I) Department, dated 23-12-1993 by fixing the value of the land at Rs.8,500/- per acre for garden land and Rs.6,000/- per acre for cultivable waste land on par with adjacent patta lands. No reply-affidavit is filed controverting the above mentioned detailed averments contained in the counter-affidavit. In view of the same, I do not find any reason to accept the contention of the petitioners that payment of compensation in respect of trees and structures is not made. For the above mentioned reasons, the writ petition is dismissed. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J Dated 18th July, 2008 vrn