IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 5797 of 2005 Between: 1 Mamidi Rama Rao, S/o. Anantha Rao, 2 Kilaparthi Venkatrama, S/o. Late Gopayya, 3 Yedla Samudram, S/o. Appanna, 4 Kilaparthi Devudamma, W/o. Appala Naidu, (All residents of V.Madugula Village, V.Madugula Mandal, Visakhapatnam District) ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Department, Chodavaram, Chodavaram Mandal, Visakhapatnam District. 2 The Chief Engineer, Minor Irrigation Department, Govt. of A.P., Erramanzil Colony, Hyderabad. 3 The M.R.O., V.Madugula Mandal, Visakhapatnam District. 4 The District Collector, Visakhapatnam District. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.B.SUDHAKAR REDDY Counsel for Respondent Nos.3 & 4: AGP FOR LAND ACQUISITION Counsel for Respondent Nos.1 & 2: GP FOR IRRIGATION Counsel for Respondent No.5: MR.K.S.R.MURTHY The Court made the following : ORDER: At the interlocutory stage, the writ petition itself is taken up for hearing and disposal with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. This writ petition is filed for a writ of mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in taking possession of the lands admeasuring Ac.11.07 cents in Sy.No.322, Ac.11.00 cents in Sy.No.324/2, Ac.3.82 cents in Sy.No.324/3, Ac.1.18 cents in Sy.No.324/2 and Ac.4.52 cents in Sy.No.278 of V.Madugula Village and Mandal, Visakhapatnam District without following due process of law under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’) as illegal and violative of principles of natural justice. Heard Sri B.Sudhakar Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioners, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition for respondent Nos.3 and 4 and Sri K.S.R.Murthy, learned counsel for respondent No.5 and perused the record. The grievance of the petitioners is that though they are in possession of the property for a long time, respondent Nos.1 to 4 sought to dispossess the petitioners from the lands in question without following due process of law and that they are entitled to receive compensation under the Act. Separate counter-affidavits have been filed by respondent No.1 and respondent Nos.3 and 4. In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of respondent Nos.3 and 4, it is stated that the above mentioned lands claimed by the petitioners do not belong to them and that while lands in Survey Nos.278, 322 and 324/3 were registered in the name of Sri Radhakantha Swamy Vari Devasthanam, land of an extent of Ac.11.00 in Survey No.324/2 belongs to respondent No.5 - Mandala Jayashyamala Rao. It is further stated that the said lands are proposed to be acquired under the Act and that the draft notification was being processed. At the hearing, the learned Assistant Government Pleader for Land Acquisition, on instructions, submitted that after completing the land acquisition proceedings, an award was passed vide Award No.3/2006- 07, dated 25.10.2006 and certain amounts payable to respondent No.5 were paid and in respect of other extents, in view of the disputes regarding apportionment of compensation, the same were referred to the competent civil Court under Section 30 of the Act. Having regard to the fact that the official respondents have initiated proceedings under the Act and passed award, the grievance of the petitioners that they are sought to be dispossessed from the lands in question without following due process of law cannot be appreciated. Since proceedings were already initiated under the Act, the petitioners are left free to avail their remedies, if they are aggrieved by such proceedings, and claim compensation in respect of the lands acquired under the Act. Subject to the above observations, the writ petition is dismissed. As a sequel to dismissal of main petition, interim order, dated 21.03.2005 is vacated and WPMP.No.7649 of 2005 is dismissed. C.V.NARAGJUNA REDDY, J 26th June, 2008. kvni