IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.RAMULU WRIT PETITION No.27629 of 2008 Between: 1 T.Venkata Rami Reddy S/o.Anjanappa (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 2 K.Sunki Reddy S/o.Narayana Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 3 K.Machi Reddy S/o.Narayana Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 4 K.Venkata Rami Reddy S/o.Narayana Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 5 K.Lakshmi Narayana Reddy S/o.Muthyal Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 6 K.Sanjeev Reddy S/o.Rami Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 7 K.Rama Krishna Reddy S/o.Rami Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 8 Smt.K.Salamma W/o.Machi Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 9 Smt.K.Chennamma W/o.Veera Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 10 Smt.G.Lakshmi Devi W/o.Kullay Reddy (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 11 Govindappa S/o.Venkata Ramanappa Resident of Cholasamudram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. 12 T.Ramanjaneyulu S/o.Chinna Anjinappa (Late) Resident of P.Narayanapuram Village, Kuderu Mandal, Anantapur District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The District Collector Anantapur, Anantapur District. 2 The Special Collector, Srisailam Project, Kurnool, Kurnool District. 3 The Special Deputy Collector, (Land Acquisition), Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi-II, Anantapur. .....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 an appropriate writ or order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not referring the matter to the Competent Civil Court under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act for determining the compensation payable for the lands acquired to an extent of Ac.2.85 cents in Sy.No. 163-1A, Ac.1.02 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B, Ac.4.33 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B, Ac.1.65 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B, Ac.6.27 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B, Ac.3.58 in Sy.No. 179-1B, Ac.3.58 cents in Sy.No. 179- 1B, Ac.8.57 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B and 2-A, Ac.0.37 cents in Sy.No. 179-1B, ac.5.78 in Sy.No. 153-2, Ac.3.16 cents in Sy.No. 181-2 and Ac.4.00 cents in Sy.No. 144 situated at Cholasomdram Village, Kudair Mandal, Anantapur District, as illegal, arbitrary, unjust and consequently direct the respondents to refer the matter to competent Civil Court under Sec. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioners: MR.N.ASWARTHA NARAYANA Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following: THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE C.V. RAMULU WRIT PETITION No.27629 OF 2008 ORDER: According to the petitioners, in spite of their protest, their lands to an extent of Ac.2.85 cents in Sy.No.163-IA, Ac.1.02 cents in Sy.No.179- IB, Ac.4.33 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.1.65 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.6.27 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.3.58 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.3.58 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.8.57 cents in Sy.No.179-1B and 2-A, Ac.0.37 cents in Sy.No.179-1B, Ac.5.78 cents in Sy.No.153-2, Ac.3.16 cents in Sy.No.181-2 and Ac.4.00 in Sy.No.144 respectively, situated at Cholasamudram Village, Kuderu Mandal of Anantapur District, were acquired for public purpose by initiating the proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’), and compensation was also paid to them in pursuance of the award passed by the 3rd respondent- Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition), Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi-II, Anantapur. It is the case of the petitioners that the compensation paid is very meager and below the market value of the lands acquired and, therefore, they requested the 3rd respondent to refer the matter to competent Civil Court, under Section 18 of the Act. Since there was no response from the 3rd respondent, in spite of their repeated requests, they sought to submit an application to the 3rd respondent on 13.09.2008 in that regard, but the same was refused to be received, and the 3rd respondent orally rejected their request stating that award was passed with their consent and the compensation amount was received by them without any protest. It is the grievance of the petitioners that they are all laymen and, taking advantage of their signatures/thumb impressions obtained on printed forms making them to believe that they were receiving the compensation under protest, the respondents have been stating that the award passed is a consent award and compensation was received without any protest. Therefore, the petitioners seek directions to the respondents to refer the matter to competent Civil Court under Section 18 of the Act. In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of respondents 1 to 3, it is stated that award was passed with the consent of the petitioners and that the petitioners received the compensation amount without any protest. It is also stated that the petitioners have never submitted any application to refer the matter to Civil Court. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition. Whether consent was given or not and, if given, under what circumstances the same was given, is not known. Be that as it may, since the petitioners have asserted that compensation was received by them under protest and that they are all illiterates and their signatures/thumb impressions were obtained on printed forms, I deem it appropriate that the matter be referred to competent Civil Court under Section 18 of the Act, for resolving the issue. In the circumstances, the respondents are directed to consider referring the matter to competent Civil Court under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, treating this writ petition as an application filed by the petitioners seeking such reference, and pass appropriate orders within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. _________________ JUSTICE C.V. RAMULU 23rd January, 2009. Note:- Issue CC in one week. BO IBL